Unusual Disagreements
by TheInnocentLookingOne
Summary: Request fic for XxxBellaBellaxxX: Fem!Percy/Isaac: Fem!Percy moves to Beacon Hills and is Isaac's mate, but the wolves can sense that she isn't normal, and they all have a meeting about what they should do about her, and then the Percy Jackson books appear and they have to read them.
1. Chapter 1

Percy looked around the apartment skeptically and shrugged. "It's okay, I guess. What do you think, Annabeth?" She turned to her best friend with one dark eyebrow raised.

"It's kind of small," The blonde admitted, gray eyes soaking the room in. "Where are you going to train swordplay?"

"The woods, most likely," Percy said, walking into the bedroom. It was smaller than her room in New York, but at least she had it to herself this time. "I mean, after that whole serial killer fiasco, I doubt there will be any people to see it." She fingered Riptide in her pocket and turned back to her friend, who was now studying the security system.

"This is so low- tech," Annabeth told the other girl, "you're gonna have to upgrade it."

"As if I need a security system," Percy smirked. "I'll be fine. Promise."

"I trust you know that I'm holding you to that," Annabeth told her. "I've got to get back to camp soon anyway. You're sure you'll be fine?"

"Yeah. This is the only school in the country willing to take me at this point, so not like I have much choice."

"Speaking of, please try not to get expelled. Last thing we want is you going to school in Canada or something."

"Hey, who knows. Canada might not be so bad. According to Grover, there's a lot of nature still in touch in Canada." Percy tried to hold back a smile, but failed miserably as she grinned impishly at her best friend.

"I have to go make sure the Stolls haven't blown anything up yet," Annabeth sighed. "IM me as much as you can, so we know you're okay. You have Nectar and Ambrosia? Drachma?"

"I'm going to be perfectly fine, Wise Girl," Percy laughed carelessly. "Not much has messed with me in the past little while."

"Still. You're one of the Big Three, better safe than sorry." Annabeth hugged Percy briefly before waving and heading out to the street, where the Gray Sisters' taxi was waiting. It was going to take a whole lot of drachma getting back to Long Island.

When she was gone, Percy stretched languidly and flopped onto the couch, coughing at the cloud of dust that surrounded her on impact. The apartment had been vacant for several months before she took it, she really shouldn't trust the furniture. With a sigh, Percy ran a hand through her hair. It was brushing her shoulders, a little longer than she normally kept it. The shorter it was, the easier it was to fight with it.

"Beacon Hills," Percy mused, sitting up and looking out the window. "Let's hope you can handle me." She stood, walking to the kitchen to sort through the food Annabeth had packed. If she was lucky, there'd be frozen pizza or a bag of chips somewhere.

* * *

Isaac shifted restlessly in his seat. It was the class before lunch, Chemistry, also known as the only class in which ninety percent of the supernatural community of Beacon Hills attend. He glanced up at the clock and sighed. It was going to be a long day.

"Is this Mr. Harris' Chem class?" A feminine voice asked. The entire room looked up to see a new girl walk in. She was reasonably tall, lean and graceful, with dark hair and sea- green eyes.

"Yes. You're the new student? Priscilla Jackson?" Mr Harris asked in a bored tone.

"Percy," the girl corrected.

"The one who's been expelled from almost every school in the state of New York? With Dyslexia and ADHD?"

"Yeah," Percy nodded, arching an eyebrow as if to say 'is that a problem?'.

"Take a seat next to Mr. Lahey," Harris told her, turning back to the board. Percy rolled her eyes when his back was turned and took the empty seat next to Isaac, who could smell the salty sea scent coming off her. She opened her binder and textbook, reaching for a ballpoint pen and then hesitating and snatching her pencil instead.

"I'm Isaac," whispered the werewolf softly.

"Percy. Nice to meet you." She smiled crookedly, crossing one leg over the other and then glancing at the board and cursing in a language Isaac was sure he'd never heard.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"My dyslexia, the learning does not come easily," Percy answered, wrinkling her nose and narrowing her eyes at the board as if to focus harder.

"Do you want to borrow my notes?" the boy offered.

"Thanks," Percy said, looking down and starting to copy down the notes. "I'll have to talk to Annabeth, she can hook me up with versions I can read," the girl muttered lowly, and Isaac, sure he wasn't supposed to have heard that, silently continued his work.

Isaac didn't see Percy at lunch where he was sitting with Jackson, Lydia, Scott, Stiles and Allison. She wasn't in the cafeteria or outside, at least.

"Isaac? Was that girl seriously kicked out of every school in New York?" Stiles asked.

"I didn't ask," Isaac replied with a shrug. "Maybe. She said she doesn't learn easily."

"Yeah, but I doubt she got expelled for failing. It had to be something big." Scott said.

"Can't you hack her files or something?" Lydia asked, poking at her salad with a fork. "Find out what got her kicked out?"

"Not without Danny," Stiles shook his head, "and I don't think he'll help me again. So, one of you will have to ask."

"I'll do it," Jackson volunteered. "Out of all of us, I'm most likely to get a yes." He stood and pulled out his phone, starting to dial his friend's number.

"She sets me on edge," Allison told them distractedly. "She moves like a fighter."

Percy sat calmly thirty feet up in a tree, watching the rainbow in front of her with feigned interest. "So the statue of Zeus is going where?"

"In the main hall of the palace," Annabeth answered animatedly. "And the entire palace is going to be designed like the Parthenon, only with multiple levels. It has to be big or the gods will kill each other, and Ares' training hall's already taking up more room then it's supposed to."

"Right. So, any word from Dad?"

"Nothing, Perce. Sorry. I've gotta go, but Grover was asking about you. You should talk to him."

"I will later. Lunch break's almost over. Speaking of school, I'm going to need your help translating everything into Ancient Greek. I'm currently sucking."

"Don't worry, just use that phone Hermes gave you, he can bring me the stuff and then I'll get it back to you ASAP. See you later!" Annabeth disconnected the IM and Percy sighed, dropping from the tree easily and walking back toward the school, pretending to be unaware of the eyes on her back the entire time.

"Who was that new girl?" Derek demanded at the pack meeting the next night.

"Percy Jackson," Scott answered absentmindedly.

"She sits next to Isaac in chem." Jackson nodded. "Danny's hacking her file. Why?"

"Because earlier today she jumped out of a thirty foot tree like it was nothing." Derek growled. "And I want to know what's up."

"She did what?" Isaac asked.

"Jumped out of a tree. What do you know about her?"

"She's been kicked out of almost every school in New York," Lydia answered. "We don't know why. That's what Danny's working on."

"I don't think she's normal. Well, obviously not _normal_ because who's normal in this town anyways, but not normal in a different sense of the term." Allison mused.

"I have no idea what you just said." Stiles informed her.

"Well then what is she?" Derek demanded. "A hunter, a supernatural creature or what?"

"We'll find out," Isaac assured him. "Shouldn't be too hard, right?"

* * *

A/N: Alrighty, so there's chapter one. Chapters will probably be around this length for the most part, because I'm still in the process of making the further on decisions, and the ending and whatnot (Leave room for a sequel or make it a finale) and so yeah. Chapter one. Leave me a review, please!


	2. Chapter 2

"Demigod."

"Very good, Lydia. The offspring of a Greek god and a mortal is called a demigod. Can anybody give me any examples?" The teacher asked.

"Perseus, Heracles, Orpheus," Percy said from the back of the room, balancing a pencil on her little finger and looking bored. "Though Heracles is more commonly known by his Roman name, Hercules. That guy is like the Starbucks of Ancient Greece, he's everywhere."

"A very good point, Miss Jackson. Where did you learn all this?"

"My Latin/ Mythology teacher, Chi- Mr. Brunner." She coughed to cover the slip, but Jackson, having noticed it, caught Scott's eye and smirked.

"He must have been a very good teacher."

"He's great," Percy agreed. "Treated me like his grand-niece." She smirked slightly, like it was a private joke.

"The most famous gods were the Olympian twelve. Can anybody name all of them?"

"Zeus, Poseidon, Hera, Demeter, Hephaestus, Athena, Ares, Apollo, Artemis, Aphrodite, Hermes and Dionysus, though Hades is rather famous too." Percy answered after a moment of silence. "And Dionysus was a demigod son of Zeus who was granted godhood, in his place it used to be Hestia."

"You had a very dedicated mythology teacher," the teacher mused.

"He always asked us how we thought this would affect us in real life. I never seemed to get the answer he was looking for." The bell rang, and most of the class began to gather their stuff to leave, considering it was the end of the day.

"Miss Jackson, if you could stay back a moment." The teacher called, and Percy nodded, slipping her stuff into the bag resting next to her seat. When the room was clear, the teacher sighed and leaned back against the desk.

"You're going to get suspicious, you know." Kleio said when she thought all the students were gone. Scott and Jackson hovered outside the doorway. "You need to calm down with the knowledge, and the name slips."

"Well, I didn't really expect a babysitter. What are you doing here?" Percy asked in return.

"I was sent to look after you. You attract a lot of trouble, Percy, I'm here merely as a... link, back and forth between you and our superiors."

"I don't need looking after, Kleio. Tell them I appreciate the thought, but it isn't necessary." Percy swung the bag over her shoulder and walked to the door, pushing it open.

"Did you need something, boys?" Kleio asked, arching an eyebrow at the werewolves.

"We- uh, were wondering if you had any more informative books on the lesson today," Scott stammered. "It was... interesting."

"Of course," the muse of History told them, smiling, "come on in." She opened the door wider, forcing the teens to come inside for a look as Percy walked down the hallway, hands deep in her pockets, one of them clasped around Riptide again. It was becoming something like a comfort gesture, nothing could get to her when she had it.

"What are you?" She whirled around at the growl, only to find herself slammed into the lockers. Her bag fell to the floor as he lifted her by the neck roughly, and she brought Riptide out and shoved at the massive shoulders in front of her, trying to make distance between her and the much larger male.

"Get off me!" She hissed, pushing against his chest.

"Derek!" Isaac called, running up to his Alpha. "Derek, please, you can't do this here," he said in a softer tone, and the older dropped Percy, who brought in deep breaths, rubbing her windpipe. She glared stubbornly up at the Alpha werewolf and stood stiffly, brushing the dirt off her clothes.

"What the hell?" She demanded, looking between the two.

"It's nothing, Percy," Isaac assured her. "You should get out of here."

"Like Ha- no. I'm not just going to leave after this idiot attacks me!" She rested her hands on her hips and watched as Isaac tried to hold Derek back from attacking her again.

"Derek?" Scott asked in surprise as he, Jackson and Kleio made their way down the hall. "What are you- oh." He blinked in realization as he watched the stare- down between the Alpha and the teenage girl. It almost looked as if Percy was winning.

"Percy, calm down," Kleio pleaded as she walked forward, hands raised in a comforting gesture. The daughter of the sea god looked up at her, eyes darkened like a storm on the ocean, but nodded stiffly and tossed her bag over her shoulder, hand still clenched around Riptide. "Annabeth wants to talk to you," the muse added as Percy walked away. The demigod raised a hand, to show she'd heard, and walked out the door.

"What was that?" Isaac asked, rubbing at his head.

"That's exactly what you're going to explain to me," Kleio told them, leading the werewolves back to her office and locking the door. "Why did you attack Percy?"

"She's not who she says she is," Derek growled. The muse arched an eyebrow.

"Who is who they say they are?" She countered.

"I'm lost," Jackson stated. "What does any of this have to do with her?"

"Percy is, unfortunately, in the center of a lot of things," Kleio said, walking to her desk and sitting down calmly, folding her hands. "A lot of traumatic events have unfolded around her, she's had more near- death experiences than any other living mortal, I can assure you."

"You're not making sense," Scott groaned. "Can you give us a straight answer?"

"No," Kleio answered. "But you can discover the truth for yourselves easily enough." She scrawled out some words on a piece of paper and handed it to Derek. "You won't believe it, but everything you seek is here." With that, she stood and exited calmly.

"I was less confused before we talked with her," Isaac said, glancing at the piece of paper in his Alpha's hand.

_Percy Jackson and the Olympians; Rick Riordan._

"What is that supposed to mean?" Lydia asked, repeatedly reading the note. "Percy Jackson, I get. The Olympians, the gods, sure, but altogether?"

"I have absolutely no clue," Stiles agreed. "So, when in doubt, use a search engine, right?" He pulled the laptop away from Scott, who was playing games, and opened Google, typing in the words.

"It's a... book series," he said, surprised. "Five in total, starting with Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief and ending with The Last Olympian."

"Can you order them?" Allison asked.

"Of course I can order them, but they may take a few weeks to get here," Stiles retorted, already in the middle of filling in the shipping information. He hit send and closed the laptop. "Any word from Danny?"

"Yes, actually," Jackson said, looking up from his phone. "Percy was kicked out of her schools repeatedly for 'accidents' such as fires and explosions."

"Fires and explosions?" Isaac asked. "Really?"

"Yes, really. Last school she went to was Goode, where her step- father worked. Her mother is listed as Sally Blofis, previously Sally Jackson, no mention of a father."

"Is it just me, or is that weird? Like, really, even if your father's dead, he's normally listed on a birth certificate or something," Scott put in.

"I want you to watch her, try to find out something significant about her," Derek told them. "Something about her makes me uneasy."

"Will do, Sourwolf," Stiles said absentmindedly as he pulled his jacket on. "I've gotta go, dinner with Dad." He waved to the rest of the pack as he walked out the door toward his jeep.

"I don't like him being alone with the Alpha Pack threat," Derek sighed as he heard the familiar engine start to fade away.

"You and me both," Scott told him. "I better get going too. Allison, can you give me a ride?"

"Of course," She said, standing and grabbing her bag. "See you guys tomorrow!"

* * *

A/N: You can expect the updates to be every two weeks like this, because A: I have exams coming up and B: I am trying to make a career from my written work (Key word being 'trying') which means I devote most of my writing time to original stories. So, yeah. I'm not saying that these are unimportant because to me, fanfiction is like training wheels- helping me to develop my writing style until I have enough confidence to send out some work to hope for publishing, and that isn't something I take for granted.


	3. Chapter 3

"I am going to die of boredom," Percy told Annabeth that weekend, when the blonde was visiting with Nico. "Seriously."

"Quit whining, Perce, it's better than going to war again," the boy told her, munching on his Happy Meal contently.

"He's right," Annabeth agreed. "Right now would be the worst time for a war, we're all still recovering. You can't tell me you don't still get those Phantom pains in your mortal spot."

"Well, yeah, I guess I do, but there's been nothing to do, and this town's freaking boring. The only things I have to look forward to are school and practicing out in the forest." The daughter of Poseidon complained. "And I hate school!"

"How's that translator working, by the way?" Annabeth asked.

"Miracles, I've been doing okay." the other replied, standing and walking to the window. "But I am beginning to be creeped. Feels like I'm being stalked all the time, and there are these kids at school that are constantly watching me, or something. Have I mentioned one of Apollo's minions has been sent to be my babysitter?"

"Kleio is just here to keep an eye out for anything strange, and she's a muse, not a minion." Nico corrected. "It's better she is here, Dad's agitated about something. He keeps muttering about Hera."

"What's she up to now?" Annabeth asked suspiciously.

"Probably planning to kill me for refusing Zeus' offer and disrespecting him. Or something." Percy sighed. "I don't want to deal with demigod stuff right now, but this is the calmest things have been since I was twelve. It's..."

"Nice, quiet, peaceful?" Annabeth offered.

"Unsettling, disturbing and suspicious, more like." Nico said, agreeing with Percy.

"See? I'm not the only one worried!" Percy said, gesturing wildly at her younger cousin.

"Paranoid's more like it," Annabeth mused, rolling her eyes. "So we've got Hera scheming, unsettling calmness and boredom to worry about. The last two we'll survive, but the first worries me." Annabeth scrunched her nose and looked out the window in thought. "I'd feel more comfortable if you'd come back to camp, Perce."

"Not gonna happen," Percy told her as there was a knock on the door, getting up to answer it. "What's the worst that could happen, Annie, really?" She opened the door and raised her eyebrows, slightly surprised.

"Hey, Percy."

"Isaac? What's up?" Percy asked, leaning in the doorway.

"I just wanted to apologize for Derek's behavior the other day. Maybe I could take you to lunch tomorrow to make up for it?" The werewolf offered hopefully, giving her a small smile.

"Sure," Percy nodded. "I'd like that." She grinned.

"I'll pick you up at around one?" Isaac suggested. Percy nodded and he waved shortly before walking back down the hall."

"Ooh, Percy's got a boyfriend," Annabeth teased. "How'd you manage that, Seaweed Brain?"

"Oh, stuff you, Wise Girl," Percy grunted, smiling, and shoved the blonde off her seat. "He's my lab partner in chem."

"You have chemistry?" The daughter of Athena teased.

"Not that kind of chemistry!" Percy yelped. "You're horrible! Nico, save me!"

"No can do, Seaweed Brain," Nico grunted, stretching out on the now unoccupied couch. "You can deal with Annie on your own."

"You're horrible too! Why am I friends with you guys?" groaned the daughter of the sea god. "I must be a masochist."

"Don't be like that," Annabeth scolded, giving Percy an unamused look. "We're only teasing."

"I know, but it's mean teasing. Isaac isn't interested in me." She waved it off simply, swiping at one of Nico's fries before he could stop her and popping it into her mouth, undisturbed by the grease and over- saltiness. "Needs ketchup."

"That's what I said, but _somebody _refuses to have anything remotely useful in her gods- damned fridge," Nico glared at his cousin, who stuck her tongue out and rolled her eyes.

"I've been living on pizza and take out, sue me," she muttered. Annabeth sighed.

"Has no one ever tried to teach you to cook?" The daughter of Athena demanded.

"Let's just say for a daughter of the sea god, I am surprisingly good at setting things on fire." (A/N: My personal headcanon- I can't see Percy as being able to cook. I really can't.) Percy gave an innocent smile as Annabeth muttered to herself and got up to inspect the half- full fridge. "I use the cafeteria at school, protein shakes for breakfast and whatever I'm craving for dinner. It's a good system."

"You're going to get out of shape, and then a monster is going to slow roast you and eat you," Annabeth scolded. "This junk is bad for you!"

"Look at Nico! He eats nothing but Happy Meals, for gods sakes!" Percy cried in defense, gesturing at her cousin wildly. The boy looked up, shielding his food with his arms and narrowing his eyes at the fighting girls.

"Do not involve me in this," He warned, munching on another fry. Annabeth turned away with a shudder, obviously disgusted with the eating habits of the two children of the Big Three. She turned back to Percy, gray eyes like hardened steel, and jabbed a finger at the taller girl's chest.

"You are going to eat healthy from now on! No more take out, at all." She put her hands on her hips and glared at Nico. "You too."

"Why do I have to suffer for something Percy did?" Nico cries, pulling his food closer desperately.

"Because every other demigod I have ever seen has eaten healthier than the two of you! It's official, no McDonald's, no pizza or Chinese takeout, no unhealthy food at all! I will teach you to cook if it kills me." The blonde stated.

"In my case, it just might," Percy warned, slumping down next to her cousin in defeat, looking longingly at the half- finished Happy Meal.

"You're seriously just going to take this lying down?" Nico asks indignantly, pointing a fry at his cousin angrily.

Percy turns between the younger and Annabeth, before finally settling her eyes on the fry in front of her and snatching it from Nico, eating it before Annabeth could reach her. "Yes. Starting now. And so are you! I will _not_ suffer alone." Percy grabbed the rest of the food and tossed it in the trash, trying to ignore the smell wafting off it as Nico gave her puppy eyes. The daughter of Poseidon sighed at the loss she'd just willingly made and sat down on the couch again, taking the remote from where she'd hidden it- the remote was never safe when Nico was around- and putting on a Shark documentary as Annabeth smiled smugly at the two before leaving, announcing that she was going to go buy healthy food, and that she'd be right back.

"We have twenty minutes," Percy pointed out. "Maybe more."

"Secret stash?" Nico asked, moving to the linen closet and reaching underneath the dusty sheets on the bottom, tossing Percy a Pepsi and bag of Old Dutch Salt 'n Vinegar chips. The girl smirked, satisfied and popped the tab on the soda, ripping the top off the chip bag in her haste to open it.

"Annie can _not_ find my stash," she said, sighing in content as she munched while Nico worked on a bag of Ruffles All Dressed. He nodded, mumbling his agreement as they watched the Sharks swimming and attacking, and ate what may possibly be their last bit of free junk food before Annie's health kick.

"I forgot my wall- _what are you two doing_?" Annabeth shrieked as she reopened the door. Percy and Nico turned to each other with wide, scared eyes and started cursing in Ancient Greek, hurling themselves over the back of the couch in an attempt to make it to safety. Annabeth was one scary person when she was angry...

* * *

A/N: Last chapter before we get to the long ones, where the peeps read the stories, I promise! And, tell me, do you want me to post new chapters of the book in chapter after chapter of this story, or do you want little fillers in between? Seriously, leave me a review and I'll love you. E-cookies for a review! And E-hugs... I love you guys, really! So devoted, and this is only the third chapter... keep giving me love people! I got the highest mark in class on my science final, that deserves some love! Sorry, I'll stop ranting now...


	4. Chapter 4

Stiles almost dropped his keys when he walked through the front door of Derek's _empty of all living multi-cellular organisms_ house and there were five books sitting on the coffee table with a plate of blue cookies and a note that read '_I left the milk in the fridge, didn't think you'd mind -H_'. Blinking hard, the only relatively normal human (normal being used in a loosely based sense) in the Pack walked slowly toward the books, reaching out reluctantly, as if they were going to bite him, and snatched the first one off the table, holding it to his chest and eying the others wearily. Belatedly wondering who 'H' was, he pulled his phone out of the jacket pocket and hit the first speed dial- Scott.

"Dude, you will not believe what just happened. Derek's been with the Argents all day, right?"

"Yeah, but a 'hey Scott, how was your day?' would have sufficed as a greeting," the werewolf shot back in a sarcastic way.

"Not the point," Stiles interrupted. "The point is that Peter is God knows where, you wolves haven't been in this house since the pack meeting, and Sourwolf has been gone all day, and yet there are four books sitting next to a plate of fresh out of the oven blue cookies, and a note from some person named 'H'. I am so confused!"

"I didn't get half of what you just said, but give Derek a call, I'll round up the others and head your way."

"You don't think some monster's waiting to ambush me, do you? 'Cause that would totally fit in with this creep- fest," Stiles asked, looking around in desperation. There was a sigh and a click from the other end of the phone, and Stiles pulled it away from his face, looking down at the cookies. They smelled really, _really_ good and he really hoped that they weren't poisoned, 'cause that would really suck. Shaking his head and turning his back on the cookies, he picked up his phone and dialed Derek's number. Of course, with him being Derek, he didn't answer, so, he did the next best thing. Called Argent himself.

"What is it Stiles?" The hunter asked, sounding tired.

"I kinda need Derek to come home, because I am A: Really creeped out and B: slightly worried about the fact that somebody managed to break into Sourwolf's house for long enough to leave cookies, milk and books without somebody noticing that something was up." There was a long pause after he said that.

"We'll be there in ten minutes, Stiles, try not to get yourself killed," Argent told him. Stiles nodded rapidly for a second before he remembered that Argent couldn't see him.

"Okay, sure." He hung up and sat on the couch, staring hard at the cover of _'The Lightning Thief' _and trying to ignore the heavenly smell wafting off the cookies. His resistance had pretty much ebbed away when the door slammed open. Stiles jumped a couple feet in the air.

Derek looked more pissed than normal as he stalked around his living room. Argent held a shotgun, and Allison next to him had her bow and quiver, but she looked slightly more relaxed than the two men. She sat next to Stiles, setting her weapon down, and looked around the room. "So, what happened?" She asked.

"I just walked in, and all this stuff was here," Stiles replied, running a hand through his now slightly longer hair as he handed her the book. "It was obvious something was up, but I don't understand what."

"I can't smell anything but the cookies, fresh ink and paper," Derek growled. "Nobody's been here but you, Stiles."

"What, you think I did this?" Stiles demanded. "The website said that the books would take four weeks to get here! And I can't bake, I'm ADHD."

"Do you have any other explanation, then?" the werewolf snorted and Stiles turned away as Allison leafed through the pages of the book.

"It seems harmless. So are we going to read them, or what?" She asked. Derek huffed out a breath, seemingly annoyed, but then, when was he not annoyed?

"Read them," Argent replied. "As soon as your friends get here."

"We're here," Scott panted as he, Jackson, Lydia, Danny and Isaac walked through the door. "No more delays, let's get this going."

"Who's reading first?" Lydia asked as everybody settled in. Nobody offered, and she rolled her eyes, holding her hands out. Allison passed her the book and she opened to the first chapter, clearing her throat.

**1 I ACCIDENTALLY VAPORIZE MY PRE-ALGEBRA TEACHER **

"Well, this officially sounds interesting," Jackson drawled. Lydia glared at him for interrupting her not even half a page into the story, and he held his hands up in a sign of surrender.

**Look, I didn't want to be a half-blood. **

**If you're reading this because you think you might be one, my advice is: close this book right now. Believe whatever lie your mom or dad told you about your birth, and try to lead a normal life. **

**Being a half-blood is dangerous. It's scary. Most of the time, it gets you killed in painful, nasty ways. **

"Wait, half-blood? Die in painful, nasty ways?" Stiles interrupted. "What the heck does that mean?"

"Well, we'll have to wait and see, won't we?" Danny arched an eyebrow, and Stiles sighed, and with some difficulty, stopped talking long enough for Lydia to continue.

**If you're a normal kid, reading this because you think it's fiction, great. Read on. I envy you for being able to believe that none of this ever happened. **

**But if you recognize yourself in these pages—if you feel something stirring inside—stop reading immediately. You might be one of us. And once you know that, it's only a matter of time before **_**they **_**sense it too, and they'll come for you. **

"Who's 'they'?" Scott asked, frowning. "And how do they sense 'half-bloods'?"

"I will stop reading right now if you people keep asking questions," Lydia threatened, glaring at everybody in the circle, especially Stiles, who was stuffing a blue cookie into his mouth.

"What? I didn't say anything this time! And they're good!" He whined. Lydia sighed.

**Don't say I didn't warn you. **

**My name is Percy Jackson. **

"Coincidence?" Isaac asked.

"Maybe," Derek replied, gesturing for Lydia to continue.

**I'm twelve years old. Until a **_**few **_**months ago, I was a boarding student at Yancy Academy, a private school for troubled kids in upstate New York. **

**Am I a troubled kid? **

**Yeah. You could say that. **

**I could start at any point in my short miserable life to prove it, but things really started going bad last May, when our sixth-grade class took a field trip to Manhattan— twenty-eight mental case kids and two teachers on a yellow school bus, heading to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to look at ancient Greek and Roman stuff. **

"Omigod, that sounds like torture," Stiles exclaimed.

**I know—it sounds like torture. Most Yancy field trips were. **

**But Mr. Brunner, our Latin teacher, was leading this trip, so I had hopes. Mr. Brunner was this middle-aged guy in a motorized wheelchair. He had thinning hair and a scruffy beard and a frayed tweed jacket, which always smelled like coffee. You wouldn't think he'd be cool, but he told stories and jokes and let us play games in class. He also had this awesome collection of Roman armor and weapons, so he was the only teacher whose class didn't put me to sleep. **

"Percy mentioned that she had a Mythology teacher named Mr Brunner," Scott once again interrupted the story. "Said he taught her all the old myths."

"A-ha! No coincidence, Percy's a half- blood and these cookies are freaking amazing!" Stiles said, holding up another blue cookie for everybody to see.

"Stiles, take some Adderall and calm down," Derek ordered. "Now."

**I hoped the trip would be okay. At least, I hoped that for once I wouldn't get in trouble. Boy, was I wrong. **

**See, bad things happen to me on field trips. Like at my fifth-grade school, when we went to the Saratoga battlefield, I had this accident with a Revolutionary War cannon. I wasn't aiming for the school bus, but of course I got expelled anyway. And before that, at my fourth-grade school, when we took a behind-the-scenes tour of the Marine World shark pool, I sort of hit the wrong lever on the catwalk and our class took an unplanned swim. And the time before that... Well, you get the idea. **

"Do you think I could pull that off and make it look like an accident?" Stiles asked. Danny whacked him upside the head.

**This trip, I was determined to be good. **

**All the way into the city, I put up with Nancy Bobofit, the freckly, redheaded kleptomaniac girl, hitting my best friend Grover in the back of the head with chunks of peanut butter and ketchup sandwich. Grover was an easy target. He was scrawny. He cried when he got frustrated. He must've been held back several grades, because he was the only sixth grader with acne and the start of a wispy beard on his chin. On top of all that, he was crippled. He had a note excusing him from PE for the rest of his life because he had some kind of muscular disease in his legs. He walked funny, like every step hurt him, but don't let that fool you. You should've seen him run when it was enchilada day in the cafeteria. **

"What's an enchilada?" Lydia stopped reading to ask.

"Pure heaven wrapped in Mexican goodness," Stiles replied.

"Let's challenge ourselves," Allison told them. "See if we can get through an entire page without pausing or asking questions.

"Good luck," Scott grinned.

**Anyway, Nancy Bobofit was throwing wads of sandwich that stuck in his curly brown hair, and she knew I couldn't do anything back to her because I was already on probation. The headmaster had threatened me with death by in-school suspension if anything bad, embarrassing, or even mildly entertaining happened on this trip. **

**"I'm going to kill her," I mumbled. **

**Grover tried to calm me down. "It's okay. I like peanut butter." He dodged another piece of Nancy's lunch. **

**"That's it." I started to get up, but Grover pulled me back to my seat. **

**"You're already on probation," he reminded me. "You know who'll get blamed if anything happens." **

**Looking back on it, I wish I'd decked Nancy Bobofit right then and there. In-school suspension would've been nothing compared to the mess I was about to get myself into. Mr. Brunner led the museum tour. **

"Why didn't he deck Nancy? I would have decked Nancy," Jackson scoffed. Argent sighed and glared at the young werewolf, who couldn't help but flinch and be quiet.

**He rode up front in his wheelchair, guiding us through the big echoey galleries, past marble statues and glass cases full of really old black-and-orange pottery. **

**It blew my mind that this stuff had survived for two thousand, three thousand years. He gathered us around a thirteen-foot-tall stone column with a big sphinx on the top, and started telling us how it was a grave marker, a **_**stele, **_**for a girl about our age. He told us about the carvings on the sides. I was trying to listen to what he had to say, because it was kind of interesting, but everybody around me was talking, and every time I told them to shut up, the other teacher chaperone, Mrs. Dodds, would give me the evil eye. **

**Mrs. Dodds was this little math teacher from Georgia who always wore a black leather jacket, even though she was fifty years old. She looked mean enough to ride a Harley right into your locker. She had come to Yancy halfway through the year, when our last math teacher had a nervous breakdown. **

**From her first day, Mrs. Dodds loved Nancy Bobofit and figured I was devil spawn. She would point her crooked finger at me and say, "Now, honey," real sweet, and I knew I was going to get after-school detention for a month. **

"I have teachers like that," Scott and Stiles chorused.

"They're the worst," Danny agreed. "There was this one back in eighth grade-"

**One time, after she'd made me erase answers out of old math workbooks until midnight, I told Grover I didn't think Mrs. Dodds was human. He looked at me, real serious, and said, "You're absolutely right." **

"Well then what is she?"

**Mr. Brunner kept talking about Greek funeral art. **

**Finally, Nancy Bobofit snickered something about the naked guy on the stele, and I turned around and said, "Will you **_**shut up**_**?" **

"It's totally going to get all awkward for him now, because of that. Classic," Stiles shook his head.

**It came out louder than I meant it to. **

**The whole group laughed. Mr. Brunner stopped his story. **

**"Mr. Jackson," he said, "did you have a comment?" My face was totally red. I said, "No, sir." **

"Told you!" He sounded quite proud of himself for it.

**Mr. Brunner pointed to one of the pictures on the stele. "Perhaps you'll tell us what this picture represents?" **

**I looked at the carving, and felt a flush of relief, because I actually recognized it. "That's Kronos eating his kids, right?" **

**"Yes," Mr. Brunner said, obviously not satisfied. "And he **_**did **_**this because ..." **

**"Well..." I racked my brain to remember. "Kronos was the king god, and—" **

"Kronos was a Titan," Argent mentioned. "Not a god."

**"God?" Mr. Brunner asked. **

**"Titan," I corrected myself. "And... he didn't trust his kids, who were the gods. So, um, Kronos ate them, right? But his wife hid baby Zeus, and gave Kronos a rock to eat instead. And later, when Zeus grew up, he tricked his dad, Kronos, into barfing up his brothers and sisters—" **

"That's just plain gross," Allison scrunched her nose and Lydia made a noise of agreement.

**"Eeew!" said one of the girls behind me. **

**"—and so there was this big fight between the gods and the Titans," I continued, "and the gods won." **

**Some snickers from the group. **

**Behind me, Nancy Bobofit mumbled to a friend, "Like we're going to use this in real life. Like it's going to say on our job applications, 'Please explain why Kronos ate his kids.'" **

"And now she's going to get caught for being a show off." Scott smirked.

**"And why, Mr. Jackson," Brunner said, "to paraphrase Miss Bobofit's excellent question, does this matter in real life?" **

**"Busted," Grover muttered. **

**"Shut up," Nancy hissed, her face even brighter red than her hair. At least Nancy got packed, too. Mr. Brunner was the only one who ever caught her saying anything wrong. He had radar ears. **

"Sounds like Sourwolf!" Stiles grinned.

"Stiles. Shut. Up." Derek growled.

**I thought about his question, and shrugged. "I don't know, sir." **

**"I see." Mr. Brunner looked disappointed. "Well, half credit, Mr. Jackson. Zeus did indeed feed Kronos a mixture of mustard and wine, which made him disgorge his other five children, who, of course, being immortal gods, had been living and growing up completely undigested in the Titan's stomach. The gods defeated their father, sliced him to pieces with his own scythe, and scattered his remains in Tartarus, the darkest part of the Underworld. On that happy note, it's time for lunch. Mrs. Dodds, would you lead us back outside?" **

**The class drifted off, the girls holding their stomachs, the guys pushing each other around and acting like doofuses. **

**Grover and I were about to follow when Mr. Brunner said, "Mr. Jackson." I knew that was coming. **

"He's going to get it for not knowing about that whole real life thing, right?" Allison asked. "Although really, this knowledge is kind of useless in today's society."

"We still need to know lore from back when werewolves were first sighted," Argent pointed out. "Don't discredit something just because it's old and seems made up."

**I told Grover to keep going. Then I turned toward Mr. Brunner. "Sir?" Mr. Brunner had this look that wouldn't let you go— intense brown eyes that could've been a thousand years old and had seen everything. **

**"You must learn the answer to my question," Mr. Brunner told me. **

**"About the Titans?" **

**"About real life. And how your studies apply to it." **

"But how do the studies of ancient people help Percy?" Isaac asked. "It's not like Kronos is just going to walk out of Tartarus and take her head off."

"We're talking about the books, Isaac," Danny reminded. "In which Percy Jackson is a guy, not your latest crush." Isaac blushed furiously and looked away, pouting.

**"Oh." **

**"What you learn from me," he said, "is vitally important. I expect you to treat it as such. I will accept only the best from you, Percy Jackson." **

**I wanted to get angry, this guy pushed me so hard. **

**I mean, sure, it was kind of cool on tournament days, when he dressed up in a suit of Roman armor and shouted: "What ho!'" and challenged us, sword-point against chalk, to run to the board and name every Greek and Roman person who had ever **_**lived, **_**and their mother, and what god they worshipped. But Mr. Brunner expected me to be as good as everybody else, despite the fact that I have dyslexia and attention deficit disorder and I had never made above a C— in my life. No—he didn't expect me to be **_**as good; **_**he expected me to be **_**better. **_**And I just couldn't learn all those names and facts, much less spell them correctly. **

**I mumbled something about trying harder, while Mr. Brunner took one long sad look at the stele, like he'd been at this girl's funeral. **

"This guy is most definitely important," Scott said, "hey, maybe he's like, super old and immortal, and he helps Percy to realize his true heritage as some awesome half- blood, whatever those are."

**He told me to go outside and eat my lunch. **

**The class gathered on the front steps of the museum, where we could watch the foot traffic along Fifth Avenue. **

**Overhead, a huge storm was brewing, with clouds blacker than I'd ever seen over the city. I figured maybe it was global warming or something, because the weather all across New York state had been weird since Christmas. We'd had massive snow storms, flooding, wildfires from lightning strikes. I wouldn't have been surprised if this was a hurricane blowing in. Nobody else seemed to notice. Some of the guys were pelting pigeons with Lunchables crackers. Nancy Bobofit was trying to pickpocket something from a lady's purse, and, of course, Mrs. Dodds wasn't seeing a thing. **

"Oh my God, I remember Lunchables! They were my favorite, I used to _beg_ my dad for them every time we went shopping." Stiles grinned at the memory.

**Grover and I sat on the edge of the fountain, away from the others. We thought that maybe if we did that, everybody wouldn't know we were from **_**that **_**school—the school for loser freaks who couldn't make it elsewhere. **

**"Detention?" Grover asked. **

**"Nah," I said. "Not from Brunner. I just wish he'd lay off me sometimes. I mean—I'm not a genius." **

"Teachers," Jackson shook his head. "You don't have to be a genius to get through life."

"It helps," Danny pointed out. Jackson sneered, looking out the window, and Stiles snickered, but shut up under the imposing glare of death sent his way, complete with flashing werewolf eyes.

**Grover didn't say anything for a while. Then, when I thought he was going to give me some deep philosophical comment to make me feel better, he said, "Can I have your apple?" I didn't have much of an appetite, so I let him take it. **

**I watched the stream of cabs going down Fifth Avenue, and thought about my mom's apartment, only a little ways uptown from where we sat. I hadn't seen her since Christmas. I wanted so bad to jump in a taxi and head home. She'd hug me and be glad to see me, but she'd be disappointed, too. She'd send me right back to Yancy, remind me that I had to try harder, even if this was my sixth school in six years and I was probably going to be kicked out again. I wouldn't be able to stand that sad look she'd give me.**

"Momma's boy?" Allison asked, arching an eyebrow.

"He's twelve," Stiles reminded. "At twelve, it is acceptable to be a momma's boy.

That remark ended the conversation, considering Stiles' situation with his own mother's death.

**Mr. Brunner parked his wheelchair at the base of the handicapped ramp. He ate celery while he read a paperback novel. A red umbrella stuck up from the back of his chair, making it look like a motorized cafe table. **

**I was about to unwrap my sandwich when Nancy Bobofit appeared in front of me with her ugly friends—I guess she'd gotten tired of stealing from the tourists—and dumped her half-eaten lunch in Grover's lap. **

**"Oops." She grinned at me with her crooked teeth. Her freckles were orange, as if somebody had spray-painted her face with liquid Cheetos. **

Scott was unable to refrain from a laughing fit, and he was quickly joined by his best friend. They ignored the funny looks from the pack and Mr. Argent, and Stiles snatched another blue cookie while he was at it, grinning around a mouthful of chocolate chips.

**I tried to stay cool. The school counselor had told me a million times, "Count to ten, get control of your temper." But I was so mad my mind went blank. A wave roared in my ears. I don't remember touching her, but the next thing I knew, Nancy was sitting on her butt in the fountain, screaming, "Percy pushed me!" **

**Mrs. Dodds materialized next to us. **

"Not human!" Danny said, eyes widening. "Percy, run away!"

"Kid's not gonna run away," Jackson reminded him, hand on his shoulder. "Instead, the kid is going to put himself right in harm's way, and probably get killed in the process.

"This is the first chapter of a five-book series, complete with a continuation series still being written," Lydia pointed out. "Now let me finish!"

**Some of the kids were whispering: "Did you see—" **

**"—the water—" **

**"—like it grabbed her—" **

**I didn't know what they were talking about. All I knew was that I was in trouble again. As soon as Mrs. Dodds was sure poor little Nancy was okay, promising to get her a new shirt at the museum gift shop, etc., etc., Mrs. Dodds turned on me. There was a triumphant fire in her eyes, as if I'd done something she'd been waiting for all semester. "Now, honey—" **

**"I know," I grumbled. "A month erasing workbooks." That wasn't the right thing to say. **

"Percy's screwed. Like, officially screwed." Stiles shook his head.

**"Come with me," Mrs. Dodds said. **

**"Wait!" Grover yelped. "It was me. **_**I **_**pushed her." I stared at him, stunned. I couldn't believe he was trying to cover for me. Mrs. Dodds scared Grover to death. **

**She glared at him so hard his whiskery chin trembled. **

**"I don't think so, Mr. Underwood," she said. **

**"But—" **

**"You— **_**will**_**—stay—here." **

**Grover looked at me desperately. **

**"It's okay, man," I told him. "Thanks for trying." **

**"Honey," Mrs. Dodds barked at me. " **_**Now**_**." Nancy Bobofit smirked. **

"I get the feeling something big is about to happen," Isaac said, cocking his head to the side like a dog. "Like, the first major element in the story."

**I gave her my deluxe I'll-kill-you-later stare. Then I turned to face Mrs. Dodds, but she wasn't there. She was standing at the museum entrance, way at the top of the steps, gesturing impatiently at me to come on. **

**How'd she get there so fast? **

**I have moments like that a lot, when my brain falls asleep or something, and the next thing I know I've missed something, as if a puzzle piece fell out of the universe and left me staring at the blank place behind it. The school counselor told me this was part of the ADHD, my brain misinterpreting things. **

**I wasn't so sure. **

**I went after Mrs. Dodds. **

"You poor, sad young child, about to be eaten by something you don't understand." Scott shook his head. "I feel for him."

**Halfway up the steps, I glanced back at Grover. He was looking pale, cutting his eyes between me and Mr. Brunner, like he wanted Mr. Brunner to notice what was going on, but Mr. Brunner was absorbed in his novel. **

**I looked back up. Mrs. Dodds had disappeared again. She was now inside the building, at the end of the entrance hall. **

**Okay, I thought. She's going to make me buy a new shirt for Nancy at the gift shop. But apparently that wasn't the plan. **

**I followed her deeper into the museum. When I finally caught up to her, we were back in the Greek and Roman section. **

**Except for us, the gallery was empty. **

**Mrs. Dodds stood with her arms crossed in front of a big marble frieze of the Greek gods. She was making this weird noise in her throat, like growling. **

**Even without the noise, I would've been nervous. It's weird being alone with a teacher, especially Mrs. Dodds. Something about the way she looked at the frieze, as if she wanted to pulverize it... **

**"You've been giving us problems, honey," she said. **

**I did the safe thing. I said, "Yes, ma'am." **

**She tugged on the cuffs of her leather jacket. "Did you really think you would get away with it?" **

** The look in her eyes was beyond mad. It was evil. She's a teacher, I thought nervously. It's not like she's going to hurt me. I said, "I'll—I'll try harder, ma'am." **

**Thunder shook the building. **

**"We are not fools, Percy Jackson," Mrs. Dodds said. "It was only a matter of time before we found you out. Confess, and you will suffer less pain." **

"I can't hear this!" Stiles wailed, bouncing in his seat. "Percy's too young to die!" Derek put a hand on his shoulder and forced him to stop bouncing, gesturing for Lydia to continue.

**I didn't know what she was talking about. **

**All I could think of was that the teachers must've found the illegal stash of candy I'd been selling out of my dorm room. Or maybe they'd realized I got my essay on **_**Tom Sawyer **_**from the Internet without ever reading the book and now they were going to take away my grade. Or worse, they were going to make me read the book. **

**"Well?" she demanded. **

**"Ma'am, I don't..." **

**"Your time is up," she hissed. **

"Noooo!"

"Stiles, shut up before I make you!" Derek growled, wrestling the ADHD human until Stiles gave in and went limp, pouting up at the werewolf and tugging his wrists in an attempt to release them from Derek's grip.

**Then the weirdest thing happened. Her eyes began to glow like barbecue coals. Her fingers stretched, turning into talons. Her jacket melted into large, leathery wings. She wasn't human. She was a shriveled hag with bat wings and claws and a mouth full of yellow fangs, and she was about to slice me to ribbons. **

**Then things got even stranger. **

**Mr. Brunner, who'd been out in front of the museum a minute before, wheeled his chair into the doorway of the gallery, holding a pen in his hand. **

**"What ho, Percy!" he shouted, and tossed the pen through the air. Mrs. Dodds lunged at me. **

**With a yelp, I dodged and felt talons slash the air next to my ear. I snatched the ballpoint pen out of the air, but when it hit my hand, it wasn't a pen anymore. It was a sword—Mr. Brunner's bronze sword, which he always used on tournament day. **

**Mrs. Dodds spun toward me with a murderous look in her eyes. **

**My knees were jelly. My hands were shaking so bad I almost dropped the sword. She snarled, "Die, honey!" **

**And she flew straight at me. **

**Absolute terror ran through my body. I did the only thing that came naturally: I swung the sword. **

**The metal blade hit her shoulder and passed clean through her body as if she were made of water. **_**Hiss**__**! **_

**Mrs. Dodds was a sand castle in a power fan. She exploded into yellow powder, vaporized on the spot, leaving nothing but the smell of sulfur and a dying screech and a chill of evil in the air, as if those two glowing red eyes were still watching me. **

**I was alone. **

"How is swinging a massive sword a natural instinct?" Jackson demanded. He was ignored.

**There was a ballpoint pen in my hand. **

"So he imagined the entire thing?" Allison asked.

**Mr. Brunner wasn't there. Nobody was there but me. **

**My hands were still trembling. My lunch must've been contaminated with magic mushrooms or something. **

**Had I imagined the whole thing? **

"Not possible. Nobody has that good of an imagination without some kind of mental disorder," Scott shook his head. "Maybe Percy's crazy."

**I went back outside. **

**It had started to rain. **

**Grover was sitting by the fountain, a museum map tented over his head. Nancy Bobofit was still standing there, soaked from her swim in the fountain, grumbling to her ugly friends. When she saw me, she said, "I hope Mrs. Kerr whipped your butt."**-"Who?" Stiles asked, looking utterly lost."-** I said, "Who?" **

**"Our **_**teacher. **_**Duh!" **

**I blinked. We had no teacher named Mrs. Kerr. I asked Nancy what she was talking about. She just rolled her eyes and turned away. **

**I asked Grover where Mrs. Dodds was. **

**He said, "Who?" **

**But he paused first, and he wouldn't look at me, so I thought he was messing with me. **

"So she did exist," Danny mused.

**"Not funny, man," I told him. "This is serious." **

**Thunder boomed overhead. **

**I saw Mr. Brunner sitting under his red umbrella, reading his book, as if he'd never moved. I went over to him. **

**He looked up, a little distracted. "Ah, that would be my pen. Please bring your own writing utensil in the future, Mr. Jackson." **

Stiles started snickering as he finally freed himself from Derek's grip. The werewolf rolled his eyes, just short of growling.

**I handed Mr. Brunner his pen. I hadn't even realized I was still holding it. **

**"Sir," I said, "where's Mrs. Dodds?" **

**He stared at me blankly. "Who?" **

**"The other chaperone. Mrs. Dodds. The pre-algebra teacher." He frowned and sat forward, looking mildly concerned. "Percy, there is no Mrs. Dodds on this trip. As far as I know, there has never been a Mrs. Dodds at Yancy Academy. Are you feeling all right?"**

"Heavy stuff. I call dibs on reading next chapter!" Stiles yelled, leaping for the book. Argent snatched it before he could and turned the page for chapter two.

* * *

A/N; Bring on the reviews, people! I personally think I sucked, so go ahead and frenzy on how badly I messed up everybody's opinions... I'm sorry, dammit!


	5. Chapter 5

**2- THREE OLD LADIES KNIT THE SOCKS OF DEATH **

"Doesn't that sound kind of, I dunno, morbid?" Stiles asked sarcastically. "And what are socks of death?"

"I'm assuming we'll find out in this chapter, so please, shut up," Lydia snapped.

**I was used to the occasional weird experience, but usually they were over quickly. This twenty-four/seven hallucination was more than I could handle. For the rest of the school year, the entire campus seemed to be playing some kind of trick on me. The students acted as if they were completely and totally convinced that Mrs. Kerr—a perky blond woman whom I'd never seen in my life until she got on our bus at the end of the field trip—had been our pre-algebra teacher since Christmas. **

**Every so often I would spring a Mrs. Dodds reference on somebody, just to see if I could trip them up, but they would stare at me like I was psycho. **

"Maybe he _is_ psycho."

"Stiles, I will behead you if you don't stop talking."

**It got so I almost believed them—Mrs. Dodds had never existed. **

**Almost. **

**But Grover couldn't fool me. When I mentioned the name Dodds to him, he would hesitate, then claim she didn't exist. But I knew he was lying. **

"Poor people who can't lie, that must be horrible. Oh, wait, I can't lie because I'm surrounded by living Polygraphs," Stiles muttered. Scott promptly slapped him upside the head.

**Something was going on. Something **_**had **_**happened at the museum. I didn't have much time to think about it during the days, but at night, visions of Mrs. Dodds with talons and leathery wings would wake me up in a cold sweat. **

**The freak weather continued, which didn't help my mood. One night, a thunderstorm blew out the windows in my dorm room. A few days later, the biggest tornado ever spotted in the Hudson Valley touched down only fifty miles from Yancy Academy. One of the current events we studied in social studies class was the unusual number of small planes that had gone down in sudden squalls in the Atlantic that year. **

"Freak storms? I think not!" Danny muttered.

"I'm really confused here," Scott started. "That teacher said this would explain Percy's past – our Percy, not the book Percy – but in the books, Percy Jackson is a dude, and in real life, Percy's a girl."

"If you were half god and somebody started writing books about you, would you like it if they wrote you exactly as you are in real life?" Lydia asked.

"No, but I'd be kinda miffed if they made me a girl."

"You're hopeless."

**I started feeling cranky and irritable most of the time. My grades slipped from Ds to Fs. I got into more fights with Nancy Bobofit and her friends. I was sent out into the hallway in almost every class. **

**Finally, when our English teacher, Mr. Nicoll, asked me for the millionth time why I was too lazy to study for spelling tests, I snapped. I called him an old sot. I wasn't even sure what it meant, but it sounded good. **

**The headmaster sent my mom a letter the following week, making it official: I would not be invited back next year to Yancy Academy. **

**Fine, I told myself. Just fine. **

**I was homesick. **

"I don't know whether that's sad or adorable," Allison stated.

"Percy is twelve in this," Isaac defended. "I think most kids living away from home would be homesick at that age."

"Adorable," Allison agreed, smiling slightly.

**I wanted to be with my mom in our little apartment on the Upper East Side, even if I had to go to public school and put up with my obnoxious stepfather and his stupid poker parties. And yet... there were things I'd miss at Yancy. The **_**view **_**of the woods out my dorm window, the Hudson River in the distance, the smell of pine trees. I'd miss Grover, who'd been a good friend, even if he was a little strange. I worried how he'd survive next year without me. I'd miss Latin class, too—Mr. Brunner's crazy tournament days and his faith that I could do well. **

**As exam week got closer, Latin was the only test I studied for. I hadn't forgotten what Mr. Brunner had told me about this subject being life-and-death for me. I wasn't sure why, but I'd started to believe him. **

"Believe the crazed mythology teacher? _That_ sounds like an amazing plan," Jackson muttered, rolling his eyes.

"Can we get on with the reading?" Lydia demanded.

**The evening before my final, I got so frustrated I threw the **_**Cambridge Guide to Greek Mythology**_** across my dorm room. Words had started swimming off the page, circling my head, the letters doing one-eighties as if they were riding skateboards. There was no way I was going to remember the difference between Chiron and Charon, or Polydictes and Polydeuces. And conjugating those Latin verbs? Forget it. **

**I paced the room, feeling like ants were crawling around inside my shirt. I remembered Mr. Brunner's serious expression, his thousand-year-old eyes. **_**I will accept only**__**the best from you, Percy Jackson. **_

**I took a deep breath. I picked up the mythology book. **

**I'd never asked a teacher for help before. Maybe if I talked to Mr. Brunner, he could give me some pointers. At least I could apologize for the big fat F I was about to score on his exam. I didn't want to leave Yancy Academy with him thinking I hadn't tried. **

"I seriously love this kid. He's adorable. I just don't get how this relates to, you know, Percy. Like, the girl version of Percy. She seems more... aloof, I guess you could say."

"Maybe a traumatic experience?" Stiles offered. "Dad was like that for a while after mom."

**I walked downstairs to the faculty offices. Most of them were dark and empty, but Mr. Brunner's door was ajar, light from his window stretching across the hallway floor. I was three steps from the door handle when I heard voices inside the office. Mr. Brunner asked a question. A voice that was definitely Grover's said **_**"... **_**worried about Percy, sir." I froze. **

"Uh oh."

**I'm not usually an eavesdropper, but I dare you to try not listening if you hear your best friend talking about you to an adult. **

**I inched closer. **

"This seems like a stupid idea, like something Scott would do," Jackson remarked.

"Been there," Scott assured him, not bothering to retort. "Not going back."

**"... alone this summer," Grover was saying. "I mean, a Kindly One in the **_**school**_**! Now that we know for sure, and **_**they **_**know too—" **

**"We would only make matters worse by rushing him," Mr. Brunner said. "We need the boy to mature more." **

**"But he may not have time. The summer solstice deadline— **_**" **_

**"Will have to be resolved without him, Grover. Let him enjoy his ignorance while he still can." **

**"Sir, he **_**saw **_**her..." **

**"His imagination," Mr. Brunner insisted. "The Mist over the students and staff will be enough to convince him of that." **

**"Sir, I... I can't fail in my duties again." Grover's voice was choked with emotion. "You know what that would mean." **

"His duties? What are his duties?" Danny asked. Derek and Argent both sighed at the constant interruptions.

"Maybe he's Percy's guardian angel, like with Cas and the Winchesters?" Stiles offered with a shrug, seemingly coming down from his previous sugar high somewhat, bouncing less. "Only, he seems a little awkward for an angel."

"No way he's an angel, but guardian might make sense," Allison piped up.

**"You haven't failed, Grover," Mr. Brunner said kindly. "I should have seen her for what she was. Now let's just worry about keeping Percy alive until next fall—" The mythology book dropped out of my hand and hit the floor with a thud. Mr. Brunner went silent. **

"Oh, the boy's so screwed," Lydia shook her head.

**My heart hammering, I picked up the book and backed down the hall. **

**A shadow slid across the lighted glass of Brunner's office door, the shadow of something much taller than my wheelchair-bound teacher, holding something that looked suspiciously like an archer's bow. **

"So, he's not human?"

"Thank you for stating the obvious, Scott."

**I opened the nearest door and slipped inside. **

**A few seconds later I heard a slow **_**clop-clop-clop, **_**like muffled wood blocks, then a sound like an animal snuffling right outside my door. A large, dark shape paused in front of the glass, then moved on. **

**A bead of sweat trickled down my neck. **

**Somewhere in the hallway, Mr. Brunner spoke. "Nothing," he murmured. "My nerves haven't been right since the winter solstice." **

"Solstice? Like, June and December twenty-first? Longest photo-period of the year? That solstice?"

"No, Jackson," Stiles snorted, "the other one."

**"Mine neither," Grover said. "But I could have sworn..." **

**"Go back to the dorm," Mr. Brunner told him. "You've got a long day of exams tomorrow." **

**"Don't remind me." **

"Ugh, exams." Stiles shuddered.

**The lights went out in Mr. Brunner's office. **

**I waited in the dark for what seemed like forever. **

**Finally, I slipped out into the hallway and made my way back up to the dorm. Grover was lying on his bed, studying his Latin exam notes like he'd been there all night. **

**"Hey," he said, bleary-eyed. "You going to be ready for this test?" I didn't answer. **

**"You look awful." He frowned. "Is everything okay?" **

**"Just... tired." **

"Think Percy's as bad at lying as Grover is?"

**I turned so he couldn't read my expression, and started getting ready for bed. I didn't understand what I'd heard downstairs. I wanted to believe I'd imagined the whole thing. **

**But one thing was clear: Grover and Mr. Brunner were talking about me behind my back. They thought I was in some kind of danger. **

**The next afternoon, as I was leaving the three-hour Latin exam, my eyes swimming with all the Greek and Roman names I'd misspelled, Mr. Brunner called me back inside. For a moment, I was worried he'd found out about my eavesdropping the night before, but that didn't seem to be the problem. **

"Well then what's the problem?"

"Please shut up so that we can find out."

**"Percy," he said. "Don't be discouraged about leaving Yancy. It's ... it's for the best." His tone was kind, but the words still embarrassed me. Even though he was speaking quietly, the other kids finishing the test could hear. Nancy Bobofit smirked at me and made sarcastic little kissing motions with her lips. **

**I mumbled, "Okay, sir." **

**"I mean..." Mr. Brunner wheeled his chair back and forth, like he wasn't sure what to say. **

**"This isn't the right place for you. It was only a matter of time." My eyes stung. **

**Here was my favorite teacher, in front of the class, telling me I couldn't handle it. After saying he believed in me all year, now he was telling me I was destined to get kicked out. **

**"Right," I said, trembling. **

**"No, no," Mr. Brunner said. "Oh, confound it all. What I'm trying to say ... you're not normal, Percy. That's nothing to be—" **

**"Thanks," I blurted. "Thanks a lot, sir, for reminding me."**

**"Percy—" **

**But I was already gone. **

"That's just harsh," Allison winced. "Poor Percy."

"You never seem to find it harsh when teachers pick on me," Scott pouted.

"Come back when you're an adorable twelve year old who's done nothing wrong."

**On the last day of the term, I shoved my clothes into my suitcase. **

**The other guys were joking around, talking about their vacation plans. One of them was going on a hiking trip to Switzerland. Another was cruising the Caribbean for a month. They were juvenile delinquents, like me, but they were **_**rich **_**juvenile delinquents. Their daddies were executives, or ambassadors, or celebrities. I was a nobody, from a family of nobodies. They asked me what I'd be doing this summer and I told them I was going back to the city. What I didn't tell them was that I'd have to get a summer job walking dogs or selling magazine subscriptions, and spend my free time worrying about where I'd go to school in the fall. **

"Welcome to average teenager-hood, young Padawan. Enjoy your stay," Stiles muttered sarcastically. Scott and Danny snickered, Jackson rolled his eyes. Rich delinquent, riiiight.

**"Oh," one of the guys said. "That's cool." **

**They went back to their conversation as if I'd never existed. **

**The only person I dreaded saying good-bye to was Grover, but as it turned out, I didn't have to. He'd booked a ticket to Manhattan on the same Greyhound as I had, so there we were, together again, heading into the city. **

"Stalkerish, much? Reminds me of Derek!" Stiles said cheerfully, and Derek growled at him.

**During the whole bus ride, Grover kept glancing nervously down the aisle, watching the other passengers. It occurred to me that he'd always acted nervous and fidgety when we left Yancy, as if he expected something bad to happen. Before, I'd always assumed he was worried about getting teased. But there was nobody to tease him on the Greyhound. **

**Finally I couldn't stand it anymore. **

**I said, "Looking for Kindly Ones?" **

"What's a Kindly One?" Isaac asked.

"They're from Greek Mythology," Lydia said. "The Three Furies. They're basically Avengers, I think they work for Hades."

"Avengers? So, Hades is like Director Fury, and these Furies go to war for him?" Stiles asked.

"Sure, Stiles."

**Grover nearly jumped out of his seat. "Wha—what do you mean?" I confessed about eavesdropping on him and Mr. Brunner the night before the exam. Grover's eye twitched. "How much **_**did **_**you hear?" **

**"Oh... not much. What's the summer solstice dead-line?" **

**He winced. "Look, Percy... I was just worried for you, see? I mean, hallucinating about demon math teachers..." **

"She was real!" Isaac defended. "Percy isn't crazy!"

**"Grover—" **

**"And I was telling Mr. Brunner that maybe you were overstressed or something, because there was no such person as Mrs. Dodds, and..." **

**"Grover, you're a really, really bad liar." **

"Way to call him out on it," Scott shook his head. "Isn't that against the bro code?"

**His ears turned pink. **

**From his shirt pocket, he fished out a grubby business card. "Just take this, okay? In case you need me this summer." **

**The card was in fancy script, which was murder on my dyslexic eyes, but I finally made out something like: **

_**Grover Underwood**_

_**Keeper**_

_**Half-Blood Hill**_

_**Long Island, New York**_

_**(800) 009-0009**_

"Can we prank call them?"

"No, Stiles, it's probably a fake number."

**"What's Half—" **

**"Don't say it aloud!" he yelped. "That's my, um... summer address." My heart sank. Grover had a summer home. I'd never considered that his family might be as rich as the others at Yancy. **

**"Okay," I said glumly. "So, like, if I want to come visit your mansion." He nodded. "Or... or if you need me." **

**"Why would I need you?" **

"That's mean," Lydia stated. "He's Percy's only friend!"

**It came out harsher than I meant it to. **

**Grover blushed right down to his Adam's apple. "Look, Percy, the truth is, I—I kind of have to protect you." **

"He is so Castiel in disguise!" Stiles exclaimed.

**I stared at him. **

**All year long, I'd gotten in fights, keeping bullies away from him. I'd lost sleep worrying that he'd get beaten up next year without me. And here he was acting like he was the one who defended **_**me. **_

"Maybe he was, in some weird way," Allison said. "Keeping an eye on Percy."

**"Grover," I said, "what exactly are you protecting me from?" There was a huge grinding noise under our feet. Black smoke poured from the dashboard and the whole bus filled with a smell like rotten eggs. The driver cursed and limped the Greyhound over to the side of the highway. **

**After a few minutes clanking around in the engine compartment, the driver announced that we'd all have to get off. Grover and I filed outside with everybody else. We were on a stretch of country road—no place you'd notice if you didn't break down there. On our side of the highway was nothing but maple trees and litter from passing cars. On the other side, across four lanes of asphalt shimmering with afternoon heat, was an old-fashioned fruit stand. **

"Mirage, it's so a mirage," Danny rolled his eyes.

**The stuff on sale looked really good: heaping boxes of bloodred cherries and apples, walnuts and apricots, jugs of cider in a claw-foot tub full of ice **_**. **_**There were no customers, just three old ladies sitting in rocking chairs in the shade of a maple tree, knitting the biggest pair of socks I'd ever seen. **

"The Socks of Death!"

**I mean these socks were the size of sweaters, but they were clearly socks. The lady on the right knitted one of them. The lady on the left knitted the other. The lady in the middle held an enormous basket of electric-blue yarn. **

**All three women looked ancient, with pale faces wrinkled like fruit leather, silver hair tied back in white bandannas, bony arms sticking out of bleached cotton dresses. The weirdest thing was, they seemed to be looking right at me. **

"So they're stalkers too? Sourwolf, you're everywhere in this story," Stiles grinned, feeling confident now that Scott was between him and the Alpha. Derek growled, and Stiles beamed at him.

**I looked over at Grover to say something about this and saw that the blood had drained from his face. His nose was twitching. **

**"Grover?" I said. "Hey, man—" **

**"Tell me they're not looking at you. They are, aren't they?" **

**"Yeah. Weird, huh? You think those socks would fit me?" **

"Can I just point out here that was a total Stiles line," Allison said. "Completely."

**"Not funny, Percy. Not funny at all." **

"Well, if it wasn't funny of course it was a Stiles line," Jackson smirked, stretching out over his armchair in a confident fashion. Stiles stuck his tongue out at him.

**The old lady in the middle took out a huge pair of scissors—gold and silver, long-bladed, like shears. I heard Grover catch his breath. **

"What're they going to do, cut somebody's head off?" Stiles asked. "I thought this was a kid's book."

"Why are we reading a kid's book?" Derek asked, glaring up at the ceiling.

"'Cause H told us to!" Stiles retorted.

"We don't even know who H _is_! He could be some murdering psycho!"

"Don't be such a Sourwolf!"

**"We're getting on the bus," he told me. "Come on." **

**"What?" I said. "It's a thousand degrees in there." **

**"Come on!'" He pried open the door and climbed inside, but I stayed back. Across the road, the old ladies were still watching me. The middle one cut the yarn, and I swear I could hear that **_**snip **_**across four lanes of traffic. Her two friends balled up the electric-blue socks, leaving me wondering who they could possibly be for—Sasquatch or Godzilla. At the rear of the bus, the driver wrenched a big chunk of smoking metal out of the engine compartment. The bus shuddered, and the engine roared back to life. **

"They snipped the yarn. Why did they snip the yarn?" Isaac asked.

**The passengers cheered. **

**"Darn right!" yelled the driver. He slapped the bus with his hat. "Everybody back on board!" Once we got going, I started feeling feverish, as if I'd caught the flu. Grover didn't look much better. He was shivering and his teeth were chattering. **

"Oh, Grover knows what's going on!" Stiles sighed.

"By his reaction, it's really bad. How are you relieved?" Allison asked.

"Because at least somebody knows what the heck is going on in this crazy story!"

**"Grover?" **

**"Yeah?" **

**"What are you not telling me?" **

**He dabbed his forehead with his shirt sleeve. "Percy, what did you see back at the fruit stand?" **

**"You mean the old ladies? What is it about them, man? They're not like... Mrs. Dodds, are they?" **

**His expression was hard to read, but I got the feeling that the fruit-stand ladies were something much, much worse than Mrs. Dodds. He said, "Just tell me what you saw." **

"How can they be worse than Mrs. Dodds?" Isaac asked. "She tried to kill him!"

**"The middle one took out her scissors, and she cut the yarn." He closed his eyes and made a gesture with his fingers that might've been crossing himself, but it wasn't. It was something else, something almost—older. **

**He said, "You saw her snip the cord." **

**"Yeah. So?" But even as I said it, I knew it was a big deal. **

"Something really bad is going to happen, isn't it?" Scott asked, tipping his head back. "Somebody's gonna get killed here, prepare yourselves."

**"This is not happening," Grover mumbled. He started chewing at his thumb. "I don't want this to be like the last time." **

**"What last time?" **

**"Always sixth grade. They never get past sixth." **

"Who didn't get past sixth grade?" Allison asked. "Grover makes no sense!"

**"Grover," I said, because he was really starting to scare me. "What are you talking about?" **

**"Let me walk you home from the bus station. Promise me." **

**This seemed like a strange request to me, but I promised he could. **

**"Is this like a superstition or something?" I asked. **

**No answer. **

**"Grover—that snipping of the yarn. Does that mean somebody is going to die?" He looked at me mournfully, like he was already picking the kind of flowers I'd like best on my coffin. **

"Duh duh _duh_! My turn," Stiles claimed, reaching for the book. He snagged it this time, and sat on the floor in front of Allison, turning to the third chapter.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Hey, guys, there might be a slight delay with updates of this story. The online version of 'The Lightning Thief' that I've been using to get the book text was recently taken down, so until I find another good one to use (because I refuse to type out the chapters, it's much too time consuming and my friend lost my copy of the book) I won't be able to update. I've written you a filler instead- Sort of a 'what's going on with the demigods while this happens' kind of thing to make up for it. I'm truly sorry, I was looking forward to writing this chapter, but I've spent the last week looking for another version of the book online, and there are no good ones.

* * *

Percy Jackson was so bored that bored didn't even begin to describe it.

School was cancelled for the week, something that for once had nothing to do with her, although she suspected the mailman wearing Greek sandals with wings on the sides had something to do with it (Hermes doesn't just show up for no reason, he's a very busy God), so she'd called Annabeth to see what the heck was going on. The daughter of Athena had no idea, but she promised to send Nico over if she found out.

That had been three hours ago, and Percy had been so bored she'd actually done homework. Like, the bane of demigod existence homework. After that she'd spent some time catching up on some shows and cartoons Nico had introduced her to, and finally she got fed up, grabbed Riptide, and headed into the forest with the need to let off steam. If some mortal stumbled in upon her, the Mist would cover it, and maybe they'd see her whacking at tree trunks with a stick or something, but she was the new kid. They all thought she was weird anyway. Well, except Isaac.

Percy blushed and shook her head at the thought of him. She couldn't deny the attraction. She'd just never really been interested in guys before- all the campers were like her family, and maybe, _maybe_ she'd had a little crush on Luke, but then he had to go and ruin it by repeatedly trying to kill her. She huffed and pulled her hair up out of her face, uncapping Riptide and beginning to go through her stances. She was taking a wide swing when she heard a yelp behind her.

"Nico?" Percy asked, resting the tip of her sword against the grass. "What took you so long? Why's Hermes hanging around Beacon hills?"

"No idea," Nico replied, standing and brushing himself off. "Annabeth wanted me to check on you. Severe boredom and all that," he shrugged and stuffed his hands into the pockets of his aviator jacket. "You wanna go get something to eat?"

"Sounds good," Percy nodded, capping Riptide and slipping it into her pocket before wiping the sweat off her forehead and pulling her hair down, ruffling it slightly to get rid of the ponytail line. "What do you feel like?"

"Well, I'd say I want a Happy Meal, but Annie is this short of killing us, so how about a sandwich or something?"

Percy whistled and smirked as they started walking back to civilization. "She's got you scared, eh?" Nico scowled at his older cousin, thanking every god listening that his recent growth spurt had put him at a taller height than she was. Ever since the second Giant war he hadn't stopped growing yet, and he loved how pissed off Percy got that she couldn't keep him in a headlock anymore.

"It's still your fault I'm not allowed junk food," he grumbled, and Percy gave him her best mischievous grin. "It's not even like I'm unhealthy! Look at me! I trail every day!"

"Stop whining, di Angelo, it could be much, much worse," Percy pointed out. "Some psycho could be trying to take over the world again! They seem to like doing that."

"True," Nico conceded. "But I still want my happy meals." Percy rolled her eyes and punched his arm as they finally hit the sidewalk. Beacon Hills was not a very busy town, really, even when school was out of the question. As they walked down the main street, Percy could see many of the town's 'concerned parents' or teachers watching her, making comments among themselves. "Even the Sheriff's staring," Nico told her quietly.

"They think I'm an amateur arsonist," Percy pointed out. "Possibly with a mental disorder. I got cleared for most of the stuff at my old schools, but, you know how it goes," she shrugged casually. "Adults are judgmental."

"Yep," Nico agreed as they walked inside a diner. "Very judgmental." To his joy, he was able to get a cheeseburger there that was (dare he say it) better than his desired Happy Meal, while Percy ordered chicken wings and onion rings. Its not like Annabeth needed to know.

"So, how are things at camp?" She asked quietly as they ate. "And Olympus?"

"Same old, really," the son of Hades shrugged. "The Hermes and Ares cabins are pretty much openly at war, and the rebuilding of Olympus is going pretty much as planned. Annabeth's run into some bumps, and the gods like to argue about things like statues and altars, but overall she's doing well. Jason said he might visit you."

"Right, Camp Jupiter's in this state too," Percy nodded. "Guess he hasn't gotten around to it yet. I think repairs on New Rome are more extensive than they first thought they'd be."

"Yeah, the ballistae _did _do a lot of damage," Nico agreed, happily munching on his burger.

"Which was _not_ Leo's fault," Percy said sternly, waving her chicken wing at Nico. "It was those gods damned possessing spirits."

"The ones who indirectly caused you to get booted in the back of the head by your Pegasus? I'd have paid to see that," the younger laughed. "And I thought you were ready to throttle Leo with how much he was flirting with you."

"I wouldn't have actually killed him, we were just the only singles on the ship before you came along. Besides, I'm emotionally damaged."

"Tell that to Isaac on your date with him." Percy blushed violently and threw an onion ring at him.

"S-shut up! It's not a _date _date, he's buying me lunch because his friend violently slammed me into a locker and I'm not allowed to hurt mortals." She crossed her arms over her chest in a huff, glaring out the window. Nico laughed.

"It is so a date," he informed her. "Wait until I tell Annie you're in denial! She agrees with me, you need a boyfriend. You're not getting any younger, Percy."

"Nico, shut up before I really do take your head off," she growled. The younger just smirked and leaned back, popping a fry into his mouth casually.

"You'd miss me too much. Plus, Lou would be pretty angry, and children of Hecate are scary when angered."

"So you two are finally dating?" Percy asked. "We all knew it would happen, but you were both in denial."

"Nobody is as good at denial as Travis and Katie," Nico countered. "They've been eye- fucking each other for years now, we should just lock them in a closet together for a few hours."

"Nico, language!" Percy chided. "I get Conner actually set up a betting pool on who'd make the first move, but we aren't allowed to meddle with their love life. That's what Aphrodite kids do."

"Whatever," Nico rolled his eyes. "I've gotta get going, but I'll be back soon," they stood and walked out of the diner, Nico walking into the nearest shadow and Percy turning toward her apartment with a yawn. Gossip with Nico was always fun, but now she needed a nap, so she took the elevator up to her floor and unlocked the door, flopping onto the couch and kicking her shoes off. She set Riptide down on the coffee table and curled her feet up underneath her, wrapping herself up in a quilt and turning the TV on as background noise. She liked the noise, Beacon Hills lacked the busy New York- esque soundtrack she was used to falling sleep with. Percy was out like a light within five minutes.

* * *

A/N: Okay, now may I please rant about the fact that DC killed Wally West? In the finale of Young Justice, too! I want a season three, this is so unbelievably unfair, I want Wally back! I'd love to believe that theory buzzing around about the Speedforce, or the time travel one, but no, the writers said he's gone. Gone. He was a fan favorite! They can't just go and kill Wally like that, not even a whole episode after his reuniting with Artemis! I cried for hours! This is AWFUL!


	7. Chapter 7

**3 GROVER UNEXPECTEDLY LOSES HIS PANTS**

"Are all the chapters going to have names like this?" Scott asked. "It's kind of strange."

"They're kids books," Jackson shrugged, arm tossed over his eyes. "Who really cares anyway? Why are we reading this again?"

** Confession time: I ditched Grover as soon as we got to the bus terminal. **

"That's mean!" Allison exclaimed. "Grover's his only friend."

** I know, I know. It was rude. But Grover was freaking me out, looking at me like I was a dead man, muttering "Why does this always happen?" and "Why does it always have to be sixth grade?" **

"What's so important about sixth grade?" Stiles interrupted himself. "I mean, really?"

** Whenever he got upset, Grover's bladder acted up, so I wasn't surprised when, as soon as we got off the bus, he made me promise to wait for him, then made a beeline for the restroom. Instead of waiting, I got my suitcase, slipped outside, and caught the first taxi uptown.  
**

**"East One-hundred-and-fourth and First, " I told the driver.  
**

**A word about my mother, before you meet her.  
**

**Her name is Sally Jackson and she's the best person in the world, which just proves my theory that the best people have the rottenest luck. Her own parents died in a plane crash when she was five, and she was raised by an uncle who didn't care much about her. She wanted to be a novelist, so she spent high school working to save enough money for a college with a good creative-writing program. Then her uncle got cancer, and she had to quit school her senior year to take care of him. After he died, she was left with no money, no family, and no diploma. **

"I always feel so bad for people who can't get a break, like that. It'd be awful," Allison piped up, and Lydia nodded. Stiles had to agree, so he smiled before continuing with the reading.

**The only good break she ever got was meeting my dad.  
**

**I don't have any memories of him, just this sort of warm glow, maybe the barest trace of his smile. My mom doesn't like to talk about him because it makes her sad. She has no pictures.  
**

**See, they weren't married. She told me he was rich and important, and their relationship was a secret. Then one day, he set sail across the Atlantic on some important journey, and he never came back.  
**

**Lost at sea, my mom told me. Not dead. Lost at sea.  
**"Nine times out of ten, 'lost at sea' means dead. Like MIA, only I think more people survive MIA than at sea," Scott sighed. "That would suck."

**She worked odd jobs, took night classes to get her high school diploma, and raised me on her own. She never complained or got mad. Not even once. **

**But I knew I wasn't an easy kid.  
**"There's no way it's Percy's fault," Stiles interrupted himself. "The universe hates her- him. Are we referring to book Percy, or are we just never going to question the relationship between book Percy and real Percy?"

"We'll question it after we figure out what's going on, now continue," Derek sighed, looking exhausted. The people he had to deal with...

**Finally, she married Gabe Ugliano, who was nice the first thirty seconds we knew him, then showed his true colors as a world-class jerk. When I was young, I nick-named him Smelly Gabe. I'm sorry, but it's the truth. The guy reeked like moldy garlic pizza wrapped in gym shorts. **

**Between the two of us, we made my mom's life pretty hard. The way Smelly Gabe treated her, the way he and I got along ... Well, when I came home is a good example.  
**

**I walked into our little apartment, hoping my mom would be home from work. Instead, Smelly Gabe was in the living room, playing poker with his buddies. The television blared ESPN. Chips and beer cans were strewn all over the carpet.  
**

"That's gross," Lydia shuddered. "How could they stand living with somebody like that?"

**Hardly looking up, he said around his cigar, "So, you're home. "  
**

**"Where's my mom?"  
**

**"Working, " he said. "You got any cash?"  
**

**That was it. No Welcome back. Good to see you. How has your life been the last six months?  
**

"It's official. He is an awful person and we hate him," Allison stated. Lydia nodded her agreement.

**Gabe had put on weight. He looked like a tuskless walrus in thrift-store clothes. He had about three hairs on his head, all combed over his bald scalp, as if that made him handsome or something. **

**He managed the Electronics Mega-Mart in Queens, but he stayed home most of the time. I don't know why he hadn't been fired long before. He just kept on collecting paychecks, spending the money on cigars that made me nauseous, and on beer, of course. Always beer. Whenever I was home, he expected me to provide his gambling funds. He called that our "guy secret. " Meaning, if I told my mom, he would punch my lights out.  
**

Isaac winced, barely audible if not for the fact that he was in a room full of werewolves. Scott shifted, leaning into Isaac's arm, the close contact with a pack mate giving the other some comfort. Lydia rested her hand on his knee.

**"I don't have any cash, " I told him.  
**

**He raised a greasy eyebrow.  
**

**Gabe could sniff out money like a bloodhound, which was surprising, since his own smell should've covered up everything else.  
**

**"You took a taxi from the bus station, " he said. Probably paid with a twenty. Got six, seven bucks in change. Somebody expects to live under this roof, he ought to carry his own weight. Am I right, Eddie?"  
**

"Seriously, who does this guy think he is?" Danny asked with a frown.

**Eddie, the super of the apartment building, looked at me with a twinge of sympathy. "Come on, Gabe, " he said. "The kid just got here. "  
**

**"Am I right?" Gabe repeated.  
**

**Eddie scowled into his bowl of pretzels. The other two guys passed gas in harmony.  
**

Stiles was obviously barely holding in laughter, so Lydia plucked the book from his grasp delicately and scanned the page quickly for his place before continuing.

**"Fine, " I said. I dug a wad of dollars out of my pocket and threw the money on the table. "I hope you lose. "  
**

**"Your report card came, brain boy!" he shouted after me. "I wouldn't act so snooty!"  
**

"His grades couldn't be that bad," Scott said, arching an eyebrow.

**I slammed the door to my room, which really wasn't my room. During school months, it was Gabe's "study. " He didn't study anything in there except old car magazines, but he loved shoving my stuff in the closet, leaving his muddy boots on my windowsill, and doing his best to make the place smell like his nasty cologne and cigars and stale beer.  
**

**I dropped my suitcase on the bed. Home sweet home. **

"Poor kid, I just wanna hug him," Allison sighed.

**Gabe's smell was almost worse than the nightmares about Mrs. Dodds, or the sound of that old fruit lady's shears snipping the yarn.  
**

**But as soon as I thought that, my legs felt weak. I remembered Grover's look of panic-how he'd made me promise I wouldn't go home without him. **

**A sudden chill rolled through me. I felt like someone- something-was looking for me right now, maybe pounding its way up the stairs, growing long, horrible talons.  
**

**Then I heard my mom's voice. "Percy?"  
**

**She opened the bedroom door, and my fears melted.  
**

**My mother can make me feel good just by walking into the room. Her eyes sparkle and change color in the light. Her smile is as warm as a quilt. **

"Wish I could hug my mom again," Stiles sighed. Lydia wrapped an arm around his shoulders, turning the page casually.

**She's got a few gray streaks mixed in with her long brown hair, but I never think of her as old. When she looks at me, it's like she's seeing all the good things about me, none of the bad. I've never heard her raise her voice or say an unkind word to anyone, not even me or Gabe.  
**

**"Oh, Percy. " She hugged me tight. "I can't believe it. You've grown since Christmas!"  
**

**Her red-white-and-blue Sweet on America uniform smelled like the best things in the world: chocolate, licorice, and all the other stuff she sold at the candy shop in Grand Central. She'd brought me a huge bag of "free samples, " the way she always did when I came home.  
**

"Did 'H' leave candy, too?" Danny asked. Stiles shook his head.

"Just the cookies, but man they were good."

The other human looked aghast. "You ate them _all_?"

"...Maybe..."

**We sat together on the edge of the bed. While I attacked the blueberry sour strings, she ran her hand through my hair and demanded to know everything I hadn't put in my letters. She didn't mention anything about my getting expelled. She didn't seem to care about that. But was I okay? **

**Was her little boy doing all right?  
**

**I told her she was smothering me, and to lay off and all that, but secretly, I was really, really glad to see her.  
**

**From the other room, Gabe yelled, "Hey, Sally-how about some bean dip, huh?"  
**

**I gritted my teeth. **

"You know of a magical creature that can summon this guy up just so I can punch him?" Scott asked nobody in particular. Stiles swore Derek's lips twitched as if he was fighting back a smile.

**My mom is the nicest lady in the world. She should've been married to a millionaire, not to some jerk like Gabe.  
**

**For her sake, I tried to sound upbeat about my last days at Yancy Academy. I told her I wasn't too down about the expulsion. I'd lasted almost the whole year this time. I'd made some new friends. I'd done pretty well in Latin. And honestly, the fights hadn't been as bad as the headmaster said. I liked Yancy Academy. I really did. I put such a good spin on the year, I almost convinced myself. I started chok-ing up, thinking about Grover and Mr. Brunner. Even Nancy Bobofit suddenly didn't seem so bad.  
**

"How does somebody like Nancy Bobofit seem not so bad?" Stiles interrupted to ask. "She's a bully! Bullies suck! Jackson included."

"Stiles," Jackson growled warningly, tensing in his seat.

"Moving on!"

**Until that trip to the museum ...  
**

**"What?" my mom asked. Her eyes tugged at my conscience, trying to pull out the secrets. "Did something scare you?"  
**

"That look is seriously unfair. Mothers shouldn't be allowed to guilt trip people, it works too well." Scott mentioned.

**"No, Mom. "  
**

**I felt bad lying. I wanted to tell her about Mrs. Dodds and the three old ladies with the yarn, but I thought it would sound stupid. **

**She pursed her lips. She knew I was holding back, but she didn't push me.  
**

"That's nice, having a non- pushy mother," Danny sighed. "Wish mine was like that."

"Least you have a mom," Isaac mentioned. He had moved to sit with Stiles and Lydia, and both boys looked like kicked puppies.

"Can we not be sad? Let's keep reading," Allison urged, gesturing to the book.

**"I have a surprise for you, " she said. "We're going to the beach. "  
**

**My eyes widened. "Montauk?"  
**

**"Three nights-same cabin. "  
**

**"When?"  
**

**She smiled. "As soon as I get changed. "  
**

**I couldn't believe it. My mom and I hadn't been to Montauk the last two summers, because Gabe said there wasn't enough money.  
**

"I hate Gabe, I hate Gabe," Lydia chanted under her breath for a minute before continuing.

**Gabe appeared in the doorway and growled, "Bean dip, Sally? Didn't you hear me?"  
**

"Seriously, can somebody punch him?" Jackson asked, which surprised everybody, but they moved on quickly.

**I wanted to punch him, but I met my mom's eyes and I understood she was offering me a deal: be nice to Gabe for a little while. **

**Just until she was ready to leave for Montauk. Then we would get out of here.  
**

"Percy should'a just punched him!" Scott exclaimed.

**"I was on my way, honey, " she told Gabe. "We were just talking about the trip. "  
**

**Gabe's eyes got small. "The trip? You mean you were serious about that?"  
**

**"I knew it, " I muttered. "He won't let us go. "  
**

"He'd better," Isaac frowned. Allison smiled.

**"Of course he will, " my mom said evenly. "Your step-father is just worried about money. That's all. Besides, " she added, "Gabriel won't have to settle for bean dip. I'll make him enough seven-layer dip for the whole weekend. Guacamole. Sour cream. The works. "  
**

**Gabe softened a bit. "So this money for your trip ... It comes out of your clothes budget, right?"  
**

"Please tell me he dies in this!" Lydia interrupted herself to snap. "People just-" She made a frustrated sound and turned the page harshly. Isaac was surprised the page didn't rip.

**"Yes, honey, " my mother said.  
**

**"And you won't take my car anywhere but there and back. "**

**"We'll be very careful. "  
**

**Gabe scratched his double chin. "Maybe if you hurry with that seven-layer dip ... And maybe if the kid apologizes for interrupting my poker game. "  
Maybe if I kick you in your soft spot, I thought. And make you sing soprano for a week.  
**

"Do it, Percy," Scott urged. Derek arched an eyebrow at him.

"This is a character in a book, you remember that, right?"

"Don't be such a Sourwolf," Stiles chided.

**But my mom's eyes warned me not to make him mad.  
**

**Why did she put up with this guy? I wanted to scream. Why did she care what he thought?  
**

**"I'm sorry, " I muttered. "I'm really sorry I interrupted your incredibly important poker game. Please go back to it right now. "  
**

"Hurray for sarcasm," Danny smirked.

**Gabe's eyes narrowed. His tiny brain was probably trying to detect sarcasm in my statement.  
**

**"Yeah, whatever, " he decided. **

**He went back to his game.  
**

**"Thank you, Percy, " my mom said. "Once we get to Montauk, we'll talk more about... Whatever you've forgotten to tell me, okay?"  
**

**For a moment, I thought I saw anxiety in her eyes-the same fear I'd seen in Grover during the bus ride-as if my mom too felt an odd chill in the air.  
But then her smile returned, and I figured I must have been mistaken. She ruffled my hair and went to make Gabe his seven-layer dip.  
**

"Can you give somebody food poisoning through dip?" Allison asked. "'Cause if we're just avoiding this subject here and all this shit is real, I'd like to kill this Gabe dude. Preferably in a slow and or painful way."

"Wouldn't we all," Lydia agreed darkly.

**An hour later we were ready to leave.  
**

**Gabe took a break from his poker game long enough to watch me lug my mom's bags to the car. He kept griping and groaning about losing her cooking-and more important, his '78 Camaro for the whole weekend.  
**

**"Not a scratch on this car, brain boy, " he warned me as I loaded ****the last bag. "Not one little scratch. "  
**

**Like I'd be the one driving. I was twelve. But that didn't matter to Gabe. If a seagull so much as pooped on his paint job, he'd find a way to blame me.  
**

**Watching him lumber back toward the apartment building, I got so mad I did something I can't explain. As Gabe reached the doorway, I made the hand gesture I'd seen Grover make on the bus, a sort of warding-off-evil gesture, a clawed hand over my heart, then a shoving movement toward Gabe. The screen door slammed shut so hard it whacked him in the butt and sent him flying up the stair-case as if he'd been shot from a cannon. Maybe it was just the wind, or some freak accident with the hinges, but I didn't stay long enough to find out.  
**

"Deaton has to teach me to do that," Stiles said decidedly. "It would be so awesome!"

"You'd abuse it," Argent pointed out.

"Yeah, so?"

"Never mind. Lydia, continue."

**I got in the Camaro and told my mom to step on it.  
**

**Our rental cabin was on the south shore, way out at the tip of Long Island. It was a little pastel box with faded curtains, half sunken into the dunes. There was always sand in the sheets and spiders in the cabinets, and most of the time the sea was too cold to swim in. **

**I loved the place.  
**

"Yeah, sure sounds cozy," Jackson uttered sarcastically. Danny reached over to whack him upside the head.

**We'd been going there since I was a baby. My mom had been going even longer. She never exactly said, but I knew why the beach was special to her. It was the place where she'd met my dad.  
**

**As we got closer to Montauk, she seemed to grow younger, years of worry and work disappearing from her face. Her eyes turned the color of the sea.  
**

**We got there at sunset, opened all the cabin's windows, and went through our usual cleaning routine. We walked on the beach, fed blue corn chips to the seagulls, and munched on blue jelly beans, blue saltwater taffy, and all the other free samples my mom had brought from work.  
**

**I guess I should explain the blue food.  
**

"Blue cookies," Stiles sighed.

"Don't remind us, you ate them all." Scott warned.

"If it helps, they were delicious."

"It doesn't."

**See, Gabe had once told my mom there was no such thing. They had this fight, which seemed like a really small thing at the time. But ever since, my mom went out of her way to eat blue. She baked blue birthday cakes. She mixed blueberry smoothies. She bought blue-corn tortilla chips and brought home blue candy from the shop. This-along with keeping her maiden name, Jackson, rather than calling herself Mrs. Ugliano was proof that she wasn't totally suckered by Gabe. She did have a rebellious streak, like me.  
**

**When it got dark, we made a fire. We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. Mom told me stories about when she was a kid, back before her parents died in the plane crash. She told me about the books she wanted to write someday, when she had enough money to quit the candy shop. **

**Eventually, I got up the nerve to ask about what was always on my mind whenever we came to Montauk- my father. Mom's eyes went all misty. I figured she would tell me the same things she always did, but I never got tired of hearing them.  
**

**"He was kind, Percy, " she said. "Tall, handsome, and powerful. But gentle, too. You have his black hair, you know, and his green eyes. " Mom fished a blue jelly bean out of her candy bag. "I wish he could see you, Percy. He would be so proud. "**

"D'aww, now Percy doesn't have to feel bad about the whole bad grades thing," Allison smiled.

**I wondered how she could say that. What was so great about me? A dyslexic, hyperactive boy with a D+ report card, kicked out of school for the sixth time in six years.  
**

**"How old was I?" I asked. "I mean ... When he left?"  
**

**She watched the flames. "He was only with me for one summer, Percy. Right here at this beach. This cabin. "  
**

**"But... He knew me as a baby. "  
**

**"No, honey. He knew I was expecting a baby, but he never saw you. He had to leave before you were born. "  
**

"Why'd he have to leave? That's so mean! He should have stayed," Scott said.

"Sometimes things just don't work out," Allison reminded him gently.

"Well, they should've."

**I tried to square that with the fact that I seemed to remember ... Something about my father. A warm glow. A smile.  
**

**I had always assumed he knew me as a baby. My mom had never said it outright, but still, I'd felt it must be true. Now, to be told that he'd never even seen me ...  
**

**I felt angry at my father. Maybe it was stupid, but I resented him for going on that ocean voyage, for not having the guts to marry my mom. He'd left us, and now we were stuck with Smelly Gabe.  
**

"See, Percy's mad at him too," Scott interrupted again.

"It would've made Percy's life easier if he'd stayed," Stiles agreed.

"I hate to say it, but I agree with them," Jackson said. Stiles and Scott stared at him, wide eyed.

**"Are you going to send me away again?" I asked her. "To another boarding school?"  
**

**She pulled a marshmallow from the fire.  
**

**"I don't know, honey. " Her voice was heavy. "I think ... I think we'll have to do something. "  
**

**"Because you don't want me around?" I regretted the words as soon as they were out.  
**

"Percy, be nice to your mother!" Stiles scolded.

**My mom's eyes welled with tears. She took my hand, squeezed it tight. "Oh, Percy, no. I-I have to, honey. For your own good. I have to send you away. "  
**

**Her words reminded me of what Mr. Brunner had said-that it was best for me to leave Yancy.  
**

**"Because I'm not normal, " I said. **

**"You say that as if it's a bad thing, Percy. But you don't realize how important you are. I thought Yancy Academy would be far enough away. I thought you'd finally be safe. "  
**

"Safe from what?" Allison asked. "The fruit ladies?"

**"Safe from what?"  
**

**She met my eyes, and a flood of memories came back to me-all the weird, scary things that had ever happened to me, some of which I'd tried to forget.  
**

**During third grade, a man in a black trench coat had stalked me on the playground. When the teachers threatened to call the police, he went away growling, but no one believed me when I told them that under his broad-brimmed hat, the man only had one eye, right in the middle of his head.  
**

"Cyclopes," Lydia said. "Greek Mythology stuff."

**Before that-a really early memory. I was in preschool, and a teacher accidentally put me down for a nap in a cot that a snake had slithered into. My mom screamed when she came to pick me up and found me playing with a limp, scaly rope I'd somehow managed to strangle to death with my meaty toddler hands.  
**

"Let's look at this in a positive way," Stiles said. "Percy didn't die."

"Yup, good way to look at it," Isaac agreed.

**In every single school, something creepy had happened, something unsafe, and I was forced to move.  
**

**I knew I should tell my mom about the old ladies at the fruit stand, and Mrs. Dodds at the art museum, about my weird hallucination that I had sliced my math teacher into dust with a sword. But I couldn't make myself tell her. I had a strange feeling the news would end our trip to Montauk, and I didn't want that.  
**

"Tell her, Percy, or something bad's gonna happen." Danny said.

**"I've tried to keep you as close to me as I could, " my mom said. "They told me that was a mistake. But there's only one other option, Percy-the place your father wanted to send you. And I just... I just can't stand to do it. "  
**

**"My father wanted me to go to a special school?"  
**

**"Not a school, " she said softly. "A summer camp. "  
**

"If I could go to a summer camp at this age, I totally would," Stiles grinned.

**My head was spinning. Why would my dad-who hadn't even stayed around long enough to see me born- talk to my mom about a summer camp? And if it was so important, why hadn't she ever mentioned it before?**

**"I'm sorry, Percy, " she said, seeing the look in my eyes. "But I can't talk about it. I-I couldn't send you to that place. It might mean saying good-bye to you for good. "  
**

"Uh, it's summer camp. The key word being SUMMER. Which really only lasts two months. Three for some schools." Lydia pointed out.

"So then why would she have to say goodbye?" Stiles agreed.

**"For good? But if it's only a summer camp ... "  
**

**She turned toward the fire, and I knew from her expression that if I asked her any more questions she would start to cry.  
**

**That night I had a vivid dream.  
**

**It was storming on the beach, and two beautiful animals, a white horse and a golden eagle, were trying to kill each other at the edge of the surf. The eagle swooped down and slashed the horse's muzzle with its huge talons. The horse reared up and kicked at the eagles wings. As they fought, the ground rumbled, and a monstrous voice chuck-led somewhere beneath the earth, goading the animals to fight harder.  
**

"Betting pool! I vote for the eagle," Jackson exclaimed.

"Horse, the eagle can't kill something that much stronger than it," Danny argued.

**I ran toward them, knowing I had to stop them from killing each other, but I was running in slow motion. I knew I would be too late. I saw the eagle dive down, its beak aimed at the horse's ****wide eyes, and I screamed, No!  
**

"I win," Jackson smirked. "Pay up, Danny."

"You never specified an amount, I owe you nothing."

**I woke with a start.  
**

**Outside, it really was storming, the kind of storm that cracks trees and blows down houses. There was no horse or eagle on the beach, just lightning making false daylight, and twenty-foot waves pounding the dunes like artillery.  
**

"Hurricane?" Allison asked.

**With the next thunderclap, my mom woke. She sat up, eyes wide, and said, "Hurricane. "  
**

**I knew that was crazy. Long Island never sees hurricanes this early in the summer. But the ocean seemed to have forgotten. Over the roar of the wind, I heard a distant bellow, an angry, tortured sound that made my hair stand on end.  
**

**Then a much closer noise, like mallets in the sand. A desperate voice-someone yelling, pounding on our cabin door.  
**

"Stalkers in the night," Stiles arched an eyebrow. "Bad news. No answer."

**My mother sprang out of bed in her nightgown and threw open the lock. **

**Grover stood framed in the doorway against a backdrop of pouring rain. But he wasn't... He wasn't exactly Grover.  
**

"Where the heck did he come from?" Scott asked. "Percy ditched him in the beginning of the chapter!"

**"Searching all night, " he gasped. "What were you thinking?"  
**

**My mother looked at me in terror-not scared of Grover, but of why he'd come.  
**

"Why'd he come? I'm so confused," Isaac groaned and fell over.

**"Percy, " she said, shouting to be heard over the rain. "What happened at school? What didn't you tell me?"  
**

**I was frozen, looking at Grover. I couldn't understand what I was seeing.  
**

**"O Zeu kai alloi theoi!" he yelled. "It's right behind me! Didn't you tell her?"  
**

"What did he just say?" Scott frowned.

"I don't know if I pronounced it right," Lydia shrugged. "Moving on..."

**I was too shocked to register that he'd just cursed in Ancient Greek, and I'd understood him perfectly. I was too shocked to wonder how Grover had gotten here by himself in the middle of the night. Because Grover didn't have his pants on-and where his legs should be ... Where his legs should be ...  
**

"What? Where his legs should be, what?" Allison asked. Everybody was obviously getting frustrated with the wait.

**My mom looked at me sternly and talked in a tone she'd never used before: "Percy. Tell me now!"  
**

**I stammered something about the old ladies at the fruit stand, and Mrs. Dodds, and my mom stared at me, her face deathly pale in the flashes of lightning.  
**

**She grabbed her purse, tossed me my rain jacket, and said, "Get to the car. Both of you. Go!"  
**

**Grover ran for the Camaro-but he wasn't running, exactly. He was trotting, shaking his shaggy hindquarters, and suddenly his story about a muscular disorder in his legs made sense to me. I understood how he could run so fast and still limp when he walked.  
**

**Because where his feet should be, there were no feet. There were cloven hooves.**

"End of chapter," Lydia stated, closing the book. "Now, are we going to discuss the elephant in the room?"

"The question of whether book Percy is Real Percy?" Stiles asked. "I think now's a good time, yes."

"Start with the differences," Argent said. "We don't know what book Percy is in terms of creatures, but we know it's a he as opposed to Real Percy, who's a girl."

"The age difference corresponds right," Stiles mentioned. "There are these five books, and then Heroes of Olympus. If this is after those, then she'd be seventeen, which she is."

"She has dyslexia and ADHD," Isaac added. "And has been kicked out of a lot of schools due to 'accidents'."

"Their birthdays are the same," Allison was on her phone next to Danny, who had Percy's records. "And the last name."

"So there are more similarities than differences," Scott mused.

"Which basically means that they're probably the same, and whatever she is, Percy's on our territory," Derek growled.

"Now, let's not get too angry yet. We need to do some more research. So," Danny picked up the book. "Chapter four, anyone?"

* * *

A/N: Muahahah chapter! Uh, so, I have midterms coming up, so that entire week there will be no uploads (Damn you math!) but I'm working on a new Chappie for Vision, and A Game of Cat and Bird, so those should be up sometime soon. Next upload for this will be on Tuesday schedule, so in two weeks on the Tuesday. Enjoy pls! Review!


	8. Chapter 8

**4 MY MOTHER TEACHES ME BULLFIGHTING**

"Uhm... So he's a matador?" Stiles asked with a yawn. Danny glanced up from his book. It was starting to get darker.

"Guess so," Scott shrugged. He looked more awake than his friend, who was practically falling asleep with his shoulder on Isaac, who was sitting there awkwardly.

**We tore through the night along dark country roads. Wind slammed against the Camaro. Rain lashed the wind-shield. I didn't know how my mom could see anything, but she kept her foot on the gas. **

**Every time there was a flash of lightning, I looked at Grover sitting next to me in the backseat and I wondered if I'd gone insane, or if he was wearing some kind of shag-carpet pants. But, no, the smell was one I remembered from kindergarten field trips to the petting zoo- lanolin, like from wool. The smell of a wet barnyard animal. **

**All I could think to say was, "So, you and my mom... Know each other?"**

**Grover's eyes flitted to the rearview mirror, though there were no cars behind us. "Not exactly, " he said. "I mean, we've never met in person. But she knew I was watching you. "**

**"Watching me?"**

"Can you say stalker?" Jackson muttered lowly, shuddering and rising from his armchair, moving toward the kitchen.

"Stalker," Stiles mumbled.

"Stiles, stay awake. If your ability to speak sarcasm is depleting then you've obviously crashed too hard." Scott demanded.

**"Keeping tabs on you. Making sure you were okay. But I wasn't faking being your friend, " he added hastily. "I am your friend. "**

**"Urn ... What are you, exactly?"**

**"That doesn't matter right now. "**

**"It doesn't matter? From the waist down, my best friend is a donkey-" Grover let out a sharp, throaty "Blaa-ha-ha!"**

"He's a satyr," Allison drawled. "I thought those were myths..." she looked at her father, who was leaning back with his eyes closed. He wasn't forthcoming with information, giving a small shrug.

**I'd heard him make that sound before, but I'd always assumed it was a nervous laugh. Now I realized it was more of an irritated bleat. **

**"Goat!" he cried. **

**"What?"**

**"I'm a goat from the waist down. "**

**"You just said it didn't matter. "**

"I wonder how fast he can run," Stiles said, blearily opening his eyes. "Being half- animal."

** "Blaa-ha-ha! There are satyrs who would trample you underhoof for such an insult!"**

**"Whoa. Wait. Satyrs. You mean like ... Mr. Brunner's myths?"**

**"Were those old ladies at the fruit stand a myth, Percy? Was Mrs. Dodds a myth?"**

**"So you admit there was a Mrs. Dodds!"**

"Percy, you have bigger problems," Lydia sighed.

"I don't think BP particularly cares," Danny informed her.

"BP?" Allison asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Book Percy. We're going to exhaust ourselves saying Book Percy and Real Percy all the time. Therefore, BP and RP."

"Okay then."

**"Of course. "**

**"Then why-"**

**"The less you knew, the fewer monsters you'd attract, " Grover said, like that should be perfectly obvious. "We put Mist over the humans' eyes. We hoped you'd think the Kindly One was a hallucination. But it was no good. You started to realize who you are. "**

**"Who I-wait a minute, what do you mean?"**

**The weird bellowing noise rose up again somewhere behind us, closer than before. Whatever was chasing us was still on our trail.**

**"Percy, " my mom said, "there's too much to explain and not enough time. We have to get you to safety. **

**"Safety from what? Who's after me?"**

**"Oh, nobody much, " Grover said, obviously still miffed about the donkey comment. "Just the Lord of the Dead and a few of his blood-thirstiest minions. "**

"So that's... Hades?" Stiles asked. Lydia nodded and he smiled, obviously proud of himself for remembering.

**"Grover!"**

**"Sorry, Mrs. Jackson. Could you drive faster, please?"**

**I tried to wrap my mind around what was happening, but I couldn't do it. I knew this wasn't a dream. I had no imagination. I could never dream up something this weird.**

**My mom made a hard left. We swerved onto a narrower road, racing past darkened farmhouses and wooded hills and PICK YOUR OWN STRAWBERRIES signs on white picket fences. **

"They're being chased down by monsters and yet they're going to pick strawberries?" Jackson asked, returning with a bag of Ruffles All Dressed. "Are they idiots or something.

"Jury's out," Stiles retorted.

"Can we read, please?" Isaac asked, exasperated.

"Ah, yes, Isaac must know the mysterious backstory of his future mate," Scott teased.

**"Where are we going?" I asked. **

**"The summer camp I told you about. " My mother's voice was tight; she was trying for my sake not to be scared. "The place your father wanted to send you. "**

**"The place you didn't want me to go. "**

**"Please, dear, " my mother begged. "This is hard enough. Try to understand. You're in danger. "**

**"Because some old ladies cut yarn. "**

**"Those weren't old ladies, " Grover said. "Those were the Fates. Do you know what it means-the fact they appeared in front of you? They only do that when you're about to ... When someone's about to die. "**

**"Whoa. You said 'you. '"**

**"No I didn't. I said 'someone. '"**

**"You meant 'you. ' As in me. "**

**"I meant you, like 'someone. ' Not you, you. "**

"He totally meant you, you. As in, you Percy. Not you as in anyone in this room." Stiles said, triumphant looking. Everybody gave him confused looks, which only made the expression look more smug.

**"Boys!" my mom said. **

**She pulled the wheel hard to the right, and I got a glimpse of a figure she'd swerved to avoid-a dark fluttering shape now lost behind us in the storm. **

**"What was that?" I asked. **

**"We're almost there, " my mother said, ignoring my question. "Another mile. Please. Please. Please. "**

**I didn't know where there was, but I found myself leaning forward in the car, anticipating, wanting us to arrive.**

**Outside, nothing but rain and darkness-the kind of empty countryside you get way out on the tip of Long Island. I thought about Mrs. Dodds and the moment when she'd changed into the thing with pointed teeth and leathery wings. My limbs went numb from delayed shock. She really hadn't been human. She'd meant to kill me. **

"But she didn't, because Percy is awesome!" Lydia said, "nobody kills Percy Jackson so easily."

"If we're right, Percy doesn't die at all. Maybe she was mysteriously hit with some sort of Greek magic and got genderswapped," Scott suggested.

"How about no?" Jackson rolled his eyes. "Highly unlikely."

"I'd like to see you come up with a better-"

**Then I thought about Mr. Brunner ... And the sword he had thrown me. Before I could ask Grover about that, the hair rose on the back of my neck. There was a blinding flash, a jaw-rattling boom!, and our car exploded. **

**I remember feeling weightless, like I was being crushed, fried, and hosed down all at the same time. **

**I peeled my forehead off the back of the driver's seat and said, "Ow."**

**"Percy!" my mom shouted. **

"Good statement," Stiles nodded. "Very sarcastic. I like it."

**"I'm okay..." **

**I tried to shake off the daze. I wasn't dead. The car hadn't really exploded. We'd swerved into a ditch. Our driver's-side doors were wedged in the mud. The roof had cracked open like an eggshell and rain was pouring in. **

**Lightning. That was the only explanation. We'd been blasted right off the road. Next to me in the backseat was a big motionless lump. "Grover!"**

**He was slumped over, blood trickling from the side of his mouth. I shook his furry hip, thinking, No! Even if you are half barnyard animal, you're my best friend and I don't want you to die!**

**Then he groaned "Food, " and I knew there was hope. **

**"Percy, " my mother said, "we have to ... " Her voice faltered. **

**I looked back. In a flash of lightning, through the mud-spattered rear windshield, I saw a figure lumbering toward us on the shoulder of the road. The sight of it made my skin crawl. It was a dark silhouette of a huge guy, like a football player. He seemed to be holding a blanket over his head. His top half was bulky and fuzzy. His upraised hands made it look like he had horns. I swallowed hard. "Who is-"**

**"Percy, " my mother said, deadly serious. "Get out of the car. "**

"Who is it?" Allison asked. "Minotaur?"

**My mother threw herself against the driver's-side door. It was jammed shut in the mud. I tried mine. Stuck too. I looked up desperately at the hole in the roof. It might've been an exit, but the edges were sizzling and smoking. **

**"Climb out the passenger's side!" my mother told me. "Percy-you have to run. Do you see that big tree?"**

**"What?"**

**Another flash of lightning, and through the smoking hole in the roof I saw the tree she meant: a huge, White House Christmas tree-sized pine at the crest of the nearest hill. **

"A tree. That makes sense," Isaac sighed, obviously sarcastic.

**"That's the property line, " my mom said. "Get over that hill and you'll see a big farmhouse down in the valley. Run and don't look back. Yell for help. Don't stop until you reach the door. "**

**"Mom, you're coming too. "**

**Her face was pale, her eyes as sad as when she looked at the ocean. **

**"No!" I shouted. "You are coming with me. Help me carry Grover. "**

"She has to go in," Stiles said. "I mean, she can't get killed! No more young people losing their mothers! Not in this series! If she dies, I will hunt down this author and-" Derek, obviously fed up, clapped a hand over Stiles mouth to shut him up.

"Go ahead," he told Danny, his voice a little lower and more growly than usual.

**"Food!" Grover moaned, a little louder. **

**The man with the blanket on his head kept coming toward us, making his grunting, snorting noises. As he got closer, I realized he couldn't be holding a blanket over his head, because his hands-huge meaty hands-were swing-ing at his sides. There was no blanket. Meaning the bulky, fuzzy mass that was too big to be his head ... Was his head. And the points that looked like horns ... **

**"He doesn't want us, " my mother told me. "He wants you. Besides, I can't cross the property line. "**

**"But... "**

**"We don't have time, Percy. Go. Please. "**

"He's not going to leave her," Lydia seemed fairly confident. "I mean, he's the hero of this story, he'll do something heroic and then save the day."

**I got mad, then-mad at my mother, at Grover the goat, at the thing with horns that was lumbering toward us slowly and deliberately like, like a bull. **

**I climbed across Grover and pushed the door open into the rain. "We're going together. Come on, Mom. "**

**"I told you-"**

**"Mom! I am not leaving you. Help me with Grover. "**

**I didn't wait for her answer. I scrambled outside, dragging Grover from the car. He was surprisingly light, but I couldn't have carried him very far if my mom hadn't come to my aid. **

"So he's a weak hero?" Jackson scoffed. Lydia hit him upside the head.

"He's twelve," Scott exclaimed. "Have some compassion!"

**Together, we draped Grover's arms over our shoulders and started stumbling uphill through wet waist- high grass. **

**Glancing back, I got my first clear look at the monster. He was seven feet tall, easy, his arms and legs like something from the cover of Muscle Man magazine-bulging biceps and triceps and a bunch of other 'ceps, all stuffed like baseballs under vein-webbed skin. He wore no clothes except under-wear-I mean, bright white Fruit of the Looms-which would've looked funny, except that the top half of his body was so scary. Coarse brown hair started at about his belly button and got thicker as it reached his shoulders. **

**His neck was a mass of muscle and fur leading up to his enormous head, which had a snout as long as my arm, snotty nostrils with a gleaming brass ring, cruel black eyes, and horns-enormous black-and- white horns with points you just couldn't get from an electric sharpener. **

**I recognized the monster, all right. He had been in one of the first stories Mr. Brunner told us. But he couldn't be real. **

**I blinked the rain out of my eyes. "That's-"**

**"Pasiphae's son, " my mother said. "I wish I'd known how badly they want to kill you. "**

**"But he's the Min-"**

**"Don't say his name, " she warned. "Names have power. "**

"So, if I say Minotaur, will it come through the wall and bite my head off?" Jackson asked.

"Obviously not," Allison said.

**The pine tree was still way too far-a hundred yards uphill at least. **

**I glanced behind me again. **

**The bull-man hunched over our car, looking in the windows- or not looking, exactly. More like snuffling, nuzzling. I wasn't sure why he bothered, since we were only about fifty feet away. **

**"Food?" Grover moaned. **

**"Shhh, " I told him. "Mom, what's he doing? Doesn't he see us?"**

"Do you _want_ him to see you?" Scott demanded.

**"His sight and hearing are terrible, " she said. "He goes by smell. But he'll figure out where we are soon enough. "**

**As if on cue, the bull-man bellowed in rage. He picked up Gabe's Camaro by the torn roof, the chassis creaking and groaning. He raised the car over his head and threw it down the road. It slammed into the wet asphalt and skidded in a shower of sparks for about half a mile before coming to a stop. The gas tank exploded. **

**Not a scratch, I remembered Gabe saying. **

**Oops.**

**"Percy, " my mom said. "When he sees us, he'll charge. Wait until the last second, then jump out of the way- directly sideways. He can't change directions very well once he's charging. Do you understand?"**

"She's pretty smart," Isaac mused. "They may yet survive."

**"How do you know all this?"**

**"I've been worried about an attack for a long time. I should have expected this. I was selfish, keeping you near me. "**

**"Keeping me near you? But-"**

**Another bellow of rage, and the bull-man started tromping uphill. **

**He'd smelled us. **

"And now they run," Stiles said. The others nodded solemnly.

**The pine tree was only a few more yards, but the hill was getting steeper and slicker, and Grover wasn't getting any lighter. **

**The bull-man closed in. Another few seconds and he'd be on top of us. **

**My mother must've been exhausted, but she shouldered Grover. "Go, Percy! Separate! Remember what I said. "**

**I didn't want to split up, but I had the feeling she was right-it was our only chance. I sprinted to the left, turned, and saw the creature bearing down on me. His black eyes glowed with hate. He reeked like rotten meat. **

**The fear in my stomach made me want to bolt, but that wouldn't work. I could never outrun this thing. So I held my ground, and at the last moment, I jumped to the side. **

"Definitely Minotaur," Allison sighed. "I used to have nightmares about it until _somebody_ told me it wasn't real." She gave her father an accusatory glance.

"You were six, Allison, I wasn't going to tell you that, yes, the Minotaur was real, because then you'd be sure it would kill you in your sleep." Argent huffed.

**The bull-man stormed past like a freight train, then bellowed with frustration and turned, but not toward me this time, toward my mother, who was setting Grover down in the grass. **

**We'd reached the crest of the hill. Down the other side I could see a valley, just as my mother had said, and the lights of a farmhouse glowing yellow through the rain. But that was half a mile away. We'd never make it. **

**The bull-man grunted, pawing the ground. He kept eyeing my mother, who was now retreating slowly downhill, back toward the road, trying to lead the monster away from Grover. **

**"Run, Percy!" she told me. "I can't go any farther. Run!"**

"Why can't she?" Allison demanded.

**But I just stood there, frozen in fear, as the monster charged her. She tried to sidestep, as she'd told me to do, but the monster had learned his lesson. His hand shot out and grabbed her by the neck as she tried to get away. He lifted her as she struggled, kicking and pummeling the air. **

**"Mom!"**

**She caught my eyes, managed to choke out one last word: "Go!"**

**Then, with an angry roar, the monster closed his fists around my mother's neck, and she dissolved before my eyes, melting into light, a shimmering golden form, as if she were a holographic projection. A blinding flash, and she was simply... Gone. **

**"No!"**

"That thing _did not_ just kill Mrs. Jackson!" Scott's eyes widened. "I like her!"

"Dude," Danny said. "She's been in, like, two chapters."

"Still!"

**Anger replaced my fear. Newfound strength burned in my limbs-the same rush of energy I'd gotten when Mrs. Dodds grew talons. **

**The bull-man bore down on Grover, who lay helpless in the grass. The monster hunched over, snuffling my best friend, as if he were about to lift Grover up and make him dissolve too.**

**I couldn't allow that.**

**I stripped off my red rain jacket.**

**"Hey!" I screamed, waving the jacket, running to one side of the monster. "Hey, stupid! Ground beef!"**

"That sounds like a Stiles idea," Allison said, shaking her head.

"I feel like I should be offended, but I'm not."

**"Raaaarrrrr!" The monster turned toward me, shaking his meaty fists. **

**I had an idea-a stupid idea, but better than no idea at all. I put my back to the big pine tree and waved my red jacket in front of the bull-man, thinking I'd jump out of the way at the last moment. **

**But it didn't happen like that. **

"Then how did it happen? The suspense is killing me!" Stiles wailed.

"If you stop for five seconds, we might find out," Derek growled, massaging at his temples.

"Don't be such a Sourwolf."

**The bull-man charged too fast, his arms out to grab me whichever way I tried to dodge. **

**Time slowed down. My legs tensed. I couldn't jump sideways, so I leaped straight up, kicking off from the creature's head, using it as a springboard, turning in midair, and landing on his neck. **

**How did I do that? I didn't have time to figure it out. A millisecond later, the monster's head slammed into the tree and the impact nearly knocked my teeth out.**

**The bull-man staggered around, trying to shake me. I locked my arms around his horns to keep from being thrown. Thunder and lightning were still going strong. The rain was in my eyes. The smell of rotten meat burned my nostrils. **

Jackson looked down at his chips and crinkled his nose, the description suddenly making them a lot less appetizing. He shuddered and balled the bag up, dropping it gracelessly to the floor beside him.

**The monster shook himself around and bucked like a rodeo bull. He should have just backed up into the tree and smashed me flat, but I was starting to realize that this thing had only one gear: forward. **

**He lowered his head and charged, those razor-sharp horns aimed straight at my chest.**

**Meanwhile, Grover started groaning in the grass. I wanted to yell at him to shut up, but the way I was getting tossed around, if I opened my mouth I'd bite my own tongue off. **

**"Food!" Grover moaned. **

"He sounds like you boys," Lydia smirked. "Always after food." Only Jackson looked offended at that.

**The bull-man wheeled toward him, pawed the ground again, and got ready to charge. I thought about how he had squeezed the life out of my mother, made her disappear in a flash of light, and rage filled me like high-octane fuel. I got both hands around one horn and I pulled backward with all my might. The monster tensed, gave a surprised grunt, then-snap!**

**The bull-man screamed and flung me through the air. I landed flat on my back in the grass. My head smacked against a rock. When I sat up, my vision was blurry, but I had a horn in my hands, a ragged bone weapon the size of a knife. **

**The monster charged. **

"You know Percy's not going to die, right?" Scott asked Isaac, who was resting his head on his knees, eyes closed.

"Yes. I don't like hearing about it."

**Without thinking, I rolled to one side and came up kneeling. As the monster barreled past, I drove the broken horn straight into his side, right up under his furry rib cage. **

**The bull-man roared in agony. He flailed, clawing at his chest, then began to disintegrate-not like my mother, in a flash of golden light, but like crumbling sand, blown away in chunks by the wind, the same way Mrs. Dodds had burst apart. **

**The monster was gone. **

**The rain had stopped. The storm still rumbled, but only in the distance. I smelled like livestock and my knees were shaking. My head felt like it was splitting open. I was weak and scared and trembling with grief I'd just seen my mother vanish. I wanted to lie down and cry, but there was Grover, needing my help, so I managed to haul him up and stagger down into the valley, toward the lights of the farm-house. I was crying, calling for my mother, but I held on to Grover-I wasn't going to let him go. **

"Hey look, BP made a good choice!" Lydia cooed.

"So killing a hulking beast isn't a good choice?" Stiles asked, obviously confused.

"He's saving his friend, it's cute."

**The last thing I remember is collapsing on a wooden porch, looking up at a ceiling fan circling above me, moths flying around a yellow light, and the stern faces of a familiar-looking bearded man and a pretty girl, her blond hair curled like a princess's. They both looked down at me, and the girl said, "He's the one. He must be. "**

**"Silence, Annabeth," the man said. "He's still conscious. Bring him inside."**

"Five, now!"

* * *

A/N: Satisfied? This chapter... I wanna strangle it. It's the type of chapter where I can hardly fathom why anybody would interrupt it, because it's one of those things that you need to find out what is going to happen. Anyways, enjoy.

I've decided to do intermissions- A day at school some Percy/Isaac fluff- every 5 book chapter mark. Because of frequent mishaps recently, I'll to an intermission at chapter seven, then ten, and then go by fives.


	9. Chapter 9

**5 I PLAY PINOCHLE WITH A HORSE**

**I had weird dreams full of barnyard animals. Most of them wanted to kill me. The rest wanted food.**

**I must've woken up several times, but what I heard and saw made no sense, so I just passed out again. I remember lying in a soft bed, being spoon-fed something that tasted like buttered popcorn, only it was pudding. The girl with curly blond hair hovered over me, smirking as she scraped drips off my chin with the spoon.**

Stiles winced. "God, that is awful. I'd probably fall over and die at that point."

"Don't be dramatic," Lydia sighed.

**When she saw my eyes open, she asked, "What will happen at the summer solstice?"**

**I managed to croak, "What?"**

**She looked around, as if afraid someone would over-hear. "What's going on? What was stolen? We've only got a few weeks!"**

**"I'm sorry, " I mumbled, "I don't... "**

**Somebody knocked on the door, and the girl quickly filled my mouth with pudding.**

"Is it only me," Danny started, "or was there way too much innuendo in that last part, there?"

"This is a kid's book," Jackson reminded him, his tone clearly voicing the fact that he had no idea why he was there.

"Exactly."

**The next time I woke up, the girl was gone.**

**A husky blond dude, like a surfer, stood in the corner of the bedroom keeping watch over me. He had blue eyes- at least a dozen of them-on his cheeks, his forehead, the backs of his hands.**

"Are there any normal things in this story?" Scott asked. "Seriously, this is the fifth chapter, and it already sounds like this could happen to us."

**When I finally came around for good, there was nothing weird about my surroundings, except that they were nicer than I was used to. I was sitting in a deck chair on a huge porch, gazing across a meadow at green hills in the distance. The breeze smelled like strawberries. There was a blanket over my legs, a pillow behind my neck. All that was great, but my mouth felt like a scorpion had been using it for a nest. My tongue was dry and nasty and every one of my teeth hurt.**

**On the table next to me was a tall drink. It looked like iced apple juice, with a green straw and a paper parasol stuck through a maraschino cherry.**

**My hand was so weak I almost dropped the glass once I got my fingers around it.**

**"Careful, " a familiar voice said.**

**Grover was leaning against the porch railing, looking like he hadn't slept in a week. Under one arm, he cradled a shoe box. He was wearing blue jeans, Converse hi-tops and a bright orange T-shirt that said CAMP HALF-BLOOD. Just plain old Grover, Not the goat boy.**

"He's a satyr, least Percy could do is use the politically correct form," Lydia pointed out.

"Can we even call that politically correct?" Stiles questioned. "I mean, this is Greek mythology."

**So maybe I'd had a nightmare. Maybe my mom was okay. We were still on vacation, and we'd stopped here at this big house for some reason. And ...**

**"You saved my life, " Grover said. "I... Well, the least I could do ... I went back to the hill. I thought you might want this. "**

**Reverently, he placed the shoe box in my lap.**

**Inside was a black-and-white bull's horn, the base jagged from being broken off, the tip splattered with dried blood. It hadn't been a nightmare.**

**"The Minotaur, " I said.**

**"Um, Percy, it isn't a good idea-"**

**"That's what they call him in the Greek myths, isn't it?" I demanded. "The Minotaur. Half man, half bull. "**

"I know this one!" Stiles exclaimed. "Minos's bull. He ate seven dudes and seven girls every seven years, right?"

"Yes, although some myths say every nine years, some every year," Allison answered.

**Grover shifted uncomfortably. "You've been out for two days. How much do you remember?"**

**"My mom. Is she really ... "**

**He looked down.**

"Why did Mrs. Jackson have to die?" Isaac asked. "I liked her. She seemed nice." He'd stretched his lanky limbs so that his head was pillowed on Stiles' thigh and his feet were crossed by where Allison had folded herself into an uncomfortable- looking sitting position. Stiles ran his hand through Isaac's hair, making the werewolf relax.

**I stared across the meadow. There were groves of trees, a winding stream, acres of strawberries spread out under the blue sky. The valley was surrounded by rolling hills, and the tallest one, directly in front of us, was the one with the huge pine tree on top. Even that looked beautiful in the sunlight.**

**My mother was gone. The whole world should be black and cold. Nothing should look beautiful.**

**"I'm sorry, " Grover sniffled. "I'm a failure. I'm-I'm the worst satyr in the world. "**

**He moaned, stomping his foot so hard it came off. I mean, the Converse hi-top came off. The inside was filled with Styrofoam, except for a hoof-shaped hole.**

"Well, that answers the question of how the goat- men wear shoes," Jackson drawled quietly, tilting his head back against the arm of his chair and closing his eyes.

**"Oh, Styx!" he mumbled.**

**Thunder rolled across the clear sky.**

**As he struggled to get his hoof back in the fake foot, I thought, Well, that settles it.**

**Grover was a satyr. I was ready to bet that if I shaved his curly brown hair, I'd find tiny horns on his head. But I was too miserable to care that satyrs existed, or even minotaurs. All that meant was my mom really had been squeezed into nothingness, dissolved into yellow light.**

**I was alone. An orphan. I would have to live with ... Smelly Gabe? No. That would never happen. I would live on the streets first. I would pretend I was seventeen and join the army. I'd do something.**

**Grover was still sniffling. The poor kid-poor goat, satyr, whatever-looked as if he expected to be hit.**

"Aw, Grover! Nobody should ever be hurt for making mistakes," Allison said firmly. Isaac tensed a little, and Stiles scratched at his scalp, trying to relax him again.

**I said, "It wasn't your fault. "**

**"Yes, it was. I was supposed to protect you. "**

**"Did my mother ask you to protect me?"**

**"No. But that's my job. I'm a keeper. At least... I was. "**

**"But why ... " I suddenly felt dizzy, my vision swimming.**

**"Don't strain yourself, " Grover said. "Here. " He helped me hold my glass and put the straw to my lips.**

**I recoiled at the taste, because I was expecting apple juice. It wasn't that at all. It was chocolate-chip cookies. Liquid cookies. And not just any cookies-my mom's homemade blue chocolate-chip cookies, buttery and hot, with the chips still melting. Drinking it, my whole body felt warm and good, full of energy. My grief didn't go away, but I felt as if my mom had just brushed her hand against my cheek, given me a cookie the way she used to when I was small, and told me everything was going to be okay.**

"Note to self," Stiles said. "Invent liquid cookies. Or track down this mysterious 'H' character and make him give me liquid cookies-" Stiles frowned at the blue thermos sitting on the coffee table. It hadn't been there before. "That is creepy beyond belief. I'm being stalked by a thing whose name is a letter! Derek!"

"What do you want me to do?" Derek asked. He swiped the thermos from the table and opened it, sniffing at the contents. "It's just cookies. Nothing wrong with them. You'll live." He screwed the lid back on and tossed it into Stiles' hands.

**Before I knew it, I'd drained the glass. I stared into it, sure I'd just had a warm drink, but the ice cubes hadn't even melted.**

**"Was it good?" Grover asked.**

**I nodded.**

**He took the empty glass from me gingerly, as if it were dynamite, and set it back on the table. "Come on. Chiron and Mr. D are waiting. "**

**The porch wrapped all the way around the farmhouse.**

**My legs felt wobbly, trying to walk that far. Grover offered to carry the Minotaur horn, but I held on to it. I'd paid for that souvenir the hard way. I wasn't going to let it go.**

**As we came around the opposite end of the house, I caught my breath.**

**We must've been on the north shore of Long Island, because on this side of the house, the valley marched all the way up to the water, which glittered about a mile in the distance. Between here and there, I simply couldn't process everything I was seeing. The landscape was dotted with buildings that looked like ancient Greek architecture-an open-air pavilion, an amphitheater, a circular arena-except that they all looked brand new, their white marble columns sparkling in the sun. In a nearby sandpit, a dozen high school-age kids and satyrs played volleyball. Canoes glided across a small lake. Kids in bright orange T-shirts like Grover's were chasing each other around a cluster of cabins nestled in the woods. Some shot targets at an archery range. Others rode horses down a wooded trail, and, unless I was hallucinating, some of their horses had wings.**

"So it's a Greek training camp. I'm not even surprised this time. See, I'm learning."

"Stiles," Jackson huffed. "Stop interrupting every three seconds!"

"Hey!" Scott defended. "You've been talking too."

"Yes, and now I'm waiting for the opportunity to get out of here, so let's hurry up and finish this book."

"There are four more after it, and then a Post- series," Lydia commented.

**Down at the end of the porch, two men sat across from each other at a card table. The blond-haired girl who'd spoon-fed me popcorn-flavored pudding was leaning on the porch rail next to them.**

**The man facing me was small, but porky. He had a red nose, big watery eyes, and curly hair so black it was almost purple. He looked like those paintings of baby angels- what do you call them, hubbubs? No, cherubs. That's it. He looked like a cherub who'd turned middle-aged in a trailer park. He wore a tiger- pattern Hawaiian shirt, and he would've fit right in at one of Gabe's poker parties, except I got the feeling this guy could've out-gambled even my step-father.**

**"That's Mr. D, " Grover murmured to me. "He's the camp director. Be polite. The girl, that's Annabeth Chase. She's just a camper, but she's been here longer than just about anybody. And you already know Chiron... . "**

**He pointed at the guy whose back was to me.**

**First, I realized he was sitting in the wheelchair. Then I recognized the tweed jacket, the thinning brown hair, the scraggly beard.**

**"Mr. Brunner!" I cried.**

"I knew he was going to be important," Allison smiled. "Just knew it."

**The Latin teacher turned and smiled at me. His eyes had that mischievous glint they sometimes got in class when he pulled a pop quiz and made all the multiple choice answers B.**

**"Ah, good, Percy, " he said. "Now we have four for pinochle. "**

**He offered me a chair to the right of Mr. D, who looked at me with bloodshot eyes and heaved a great sigh. "Oh, I suppose I must say it. Welcome to Camp Half-Blood. There. Now, don't expect me to be glad to see you. "**

**"Uh, thanks. " I scooted a little farther away from him because, if there was one thing I had learned from living with Gabe, it was how to tell when an adult has been hit-ting the happy juice. If Mr. D was a stranger to alcohol, I was a satyr.**

**"Annabeth?" Mr. Brunner called to the blond girl.**

"Who names their kid Annabeth?" Scott asked.

"A person who just can't make the decision between Anna and Beth, duh," Stiles snorted.

**She came forward and Mr. Brunner introduced us. "This young lady nursed you back to health, Percy. Annabeth, my dear, why don't you go check on Percy's bunk? We'll be putting him in cabin eleven for now. "**

**Annabeth said, "Sure, Chiron. "**

**She was probably my age, maybe a couple of inches taller, and a whole lot more athletic looking. With her deep tan and her curly blond hair, she was almost exactly what I thought a stereotypical California girl would look like, except her eyes ruined the image. They were startling gray, like storm clouds; pretty, but intimidating, too, as if she were analyzing the best way to take me down in a fight.**

"How much do you want to bet she could actually take Percy down?" Lydia asked.

"We don't know them, I'm not taking that bet," Danny shook his head.

**She glanced at the minotaur horn in my hands, then back at me. I imagined she was going to say, You killed a minotaur! or Wow, you're so awesome! or something like that.**

**Instead she said, "You drool when you sleep. "**

**Then she sprinted off down the lawn, her blond hair flying behind her.**

"That sounds like something that would come out of the days when Stiles was pining for Lydia," Scott chuckled.

"Hey! I don't drool when I sleep," Stiles defended.

"Yes, you do," several voices chorused. Stiles fell into a pout.

**"So, " I said, anxious to change the subject. "You, uh, work here, Mr. Brunner?"**

**"Not Mr. Brunner, " the ex-Mr. Brunner said. "I'm afraid that was a pseudonym. You may call me Chiron. "**

**"Okay. " Totally confused, I looked at the director. "And Mr. D ... Does that stand for something?"**

"He's Chiron? Of course he'd be Chiron," Lydia sighed. "Why didn't I notice?"

**Mr. D stopped shuffling the cards. He looked at me like I'd just belched loudly. "Young man, names are powerful things. You don't just go around using them for no reason. "**

**"Oh. Right. Sorry. "**

**"I must say, Percy, " Chiron-Brunner broke in, "I'm glad to see you alive. It's been a long time since I've made a ****house call to a potential camper. I'd hate to think I've wasted my time. "**

**"House call?"**

"Did this guy show up at Percy's house when I wasn't listening?" Stiles asked.

**"My year at Yancy Academy, to instruct you. We have satyrs at most schools, of course, keeping a lookout. But Grover alerted me as soon as he met you. He sensed you were something special, so I decided to come upstate. I convinced the other Latin teacher to ... Ah, take a leave of absence. "**

**I tried to remember the beginning of the school year. It seemed like so long ago, but I did have a fuzzy memory of there being another Latin teacher my first week at Yancy. Then, without explanation, he had disappeared and Mr. Brunner had taken the class.**

**"You came to Yancy just to teach me?" I asked.**

**Chiron nodded. "Honestly, I wasn't sure about you at first. We contacted your mother, let her know we were keeping an eye on you in case you were ready for Camp Half-Blood. But you still had so much to learn. Nevertheless, you made it here alive, and that's always the first test. "**

**"Grover, " Mr. D said impatiently, "are you playing or not?"**

**"Yes, sir!" Grover trembled as he took the fourth chair, though I didn't know why he should be so afraid of a pudgy little man in a tiger-print Hawaiian shirt.**

"So is this the guy who abuses Grover?" Allison asked. "Because I think he should be added to our list of people we hate in this book, right next to Gabe."

**"You do know how to play pinochle?" Mr. D eyed me suspiciously.**

**"I'm afraid not, " I said.**

**"I'm afraid not, sir, " he said.**

**"Sir, " I repeated. I was liking the camp director less and less.**

"Alright, he's officially been added to our list," Stiles agreed. "If Percy doesn't like him, neither do we."

**"Well, " he told me, "it is, along with gladiator fighting and Pac-Man, one of the greatest games ever invented by humans. I would expect all civilized young men to know the rules. "**

**"I'm sure the boy can learn, " Chiron said.**

**"Please, " I said, "what is this place? What am I doing here? Mr. Brun-Chiron-why would you go to Yancy Academy just to teach me?"**

**Mr. D snorted. "I asked the same question. "**

**The camp director dealt the cards. Grover flinched every time one landed in his pile.**

Isaac frowned pulling his feet in and sitting up, leaning against Stiles' side. "Why are the characters all so mean?"

**Chiron smiled at me sympathetically, the way he used to in Latin class, as if to let me know that no matter what my average was, I was his star student. He expected me to have the right answer.**

**"Percy, " he said. "Did your mother tell you nothing?'**

"Hey! Don't criticize Mrs. Jackson!" Stiles exclaimed. "She was the most badass character to come out of the first four chapters! She was taken from us too young, too soon, and-" Lydia pressed the lip of the thermos to Stiles' mouth to keep him quiet. He slowly started drinking his liquid cookies, a smile spreading over his face at the taste of them.

**"She said ... " I remembered her sad eyes, looking out over the sea. "She told me she was afraid to send me here, even though my father had wanted her to. She said that once I was here, I probably couldn't leave. She wanted to keep me close to her. "**

**"Typical, " Mr. D said. "That's how they usually get killed. Young man, are you bidding or not?"**

**"What?" I asked.**

**He explained, impatiently, how you bid in pinochle, and so I did.**

**"I'm afraid there's too much to tell, " Chiron said. "I'm afraid our usual orientation film won't be sufficient. "**

**"Orientation film?" I asked.**

"What kind of freaky place is Percy that they're a Greek style training summer camp with an orientation film?" Scott asked, frowning at the book.

"A cool freaky Greek training summer camp," Allison said. "You think it's real?"

"Let's not jump to conclusions," Argent spoke up. Just because Percy Jackson exists doesn't mean that everything in these books is necessarily true."

**"No, " Chiron decided. "Well, Percy. You know your friend Grover is a satyr. You know"-he pointed to the horn in the shoe box-"that you have killed the Minotaur. No small feat, either, lad. What you may not know is that great powers are at work in your life. Gods-the forces you call the Greek gods-are very much alive. "**

**I stared at the others around the table.**

**I waited for somebody to yell, Not! But all I got was Mr. D yelling, "Oh, a royal marriage. Trick! Trick!" He cackled as he tallied up his points.**

**"Mr. D, " Grover asked timidly, "if you're not going to eat it, could I have your Diet Coke can?"**

**"Eh? Oh, all right. "**

**Grover bit a huge shard out of the empty aluminum can and chewed it mournfully.**

"So, I'm a little confused. Is Grover sad because Mr. D is an abusive asshole, or is he sad because he thinks he hurt Percy?" Danny asked.

"I think it's some of both," Isaac replied with a half- shrug of the shoulder that wasn't pressed against Stiles.

**"Wait, " I told Chiron. "You're telling me there's such a thing as God. "**

**"Well, now, " Chiron said. "God-capital G, God. That's a different matter altogether. We shan't deal with the metaphysical. "**

**"Metaphysical? But you were just talking about-"**

**"Ah, gods, plural, as in, great beings that control the forces of nature and human endeavors: the immortal gods of Olympus. That's a smaller matter."**

**"Smaller?"**

**"Yes, quite. The gods we discussed in Latin class. "**

**"Zeus, " I said. "Hera. Apollo. You mean them. "**

**And there it was again-distant thunder on a cloud-less day.**

"So, what? Zeus is pissy?" Lydia asked. A very real roll of thunder sounded off in the distance. Stiles' eyes got wide.

"Don't insult him, he can hear you!" he hissed.

**"Young man, " said Mr. D, "I would really be less casual about throwing those names around, if I were you. "**

**"But they're stories, " I said. "They're-myths, to explain lightning and the seasons and stuff. They're what people believed before there was science."**

**"Science!" Mr. D scoffed. "And tell me, Perseus Jackson"-I flinched when he said my real name, which I never told anybody-"what will people think of your 'science' two thousand years from now?" Mr. D continued. "Hmm? They will call it primitive mumbo jumbo. That's what. Oh, I love mortals-they have absolutely no sense of perspective. They think they've come so-o-o far. And have they, Chiron? Look at this boy and tell me. "**

**I wasn't liking Mr. D much, but there was something about the way he called me mortal, as if... He wasn't. It was enough to put a lump in my throat, to suggest why Grover was dutifully minding his cards, chewing his soda can, and keeping his mouth shut.**

"Dionysus. He's going to be Dionysus, isn't he?" Allison asked, not waiting for confirmation before adding, "you people just called the God famous for insanity an asshole."

**"Percy, " Chiron said, "you may choose to believe or not, but the fact is that immortal means immortal. Can you imagine that for a moment, never dying? Never fading? Existing, just as you are, for all time?"**

**I was about to answer, off the top of my head, that it sounded like a pretty good deal, but the tone of Chiron's voice made me hesitate.**

**"You mean, whether people believed in you or not, " I said.**

**"Exactly, " Chiron agreed. "If you were a god, how would you like being called a myth, an old story to explain lightning? What if I told you, Perseus Jackson, that some-day people would call you a myth, just created to explain how little boys can get over losing their mothers?"**

**My heart pounded. He was trying to make me angry for some reason, but I wasn't going to let him. I said, "I wouldn't like it. But I don't believe in gods. "**

**"Oh, you'd better, " Mr. D murmured. "Before one of them incinerates you. "**

**Grover said, "P-please, sir. He's just lost his mother. He's in shock. "**

**"A lucky thing, too, " Mr. D grumbled, playing a card. "Bad enough I'm confined to this miserable job, working with boys who don't even believe. "**

"I don't care who he is, he's an asshole," Lydia sniffed and crossed her arms.

**He waved his hand and a goblet appeared on the table, as if the sunlight had bent, momentarily, and woven the air into glass. The goblet filled itself with red wine.**

**My jaw dropped, but Chiron hardly looked up.**

**"Mr. D, " he warned, "your restrictions. "**

**Mr. D looked at the wine and feigned surprise.**

**"Dear me. " He looked at the sky and yelled, "Old habits! Sorry!"**

**More thunder.**

"Apparently Zeus isn't very happy with him either, if that helps," Scott offered.

"It doesn't," Lydia retorted.

**Mr. D waved his hand again, and the wineglass changed into a fresh can of Diet Coke. He sighed unhappily, popped the top of the soda, and went back to his card game.**

**Chiron winked at me. "Mr. D offended his father a while back, took a fancy to a wood nymph who had been declared off-limits. "**

**"A wood nymph, " I repeated, still staring at the Diet Coke can like it was from outer space.**

"Thank you, Percy, for giving me an idea next time I harass 'H'," Stiles took a long swig of his cookies.

**"Yes, " Mr. D confessed. "Father loves to punish me. The first time, Prohibition. Ghastly! Absolutely horrid ten years! The second time-well, she really was pretty, and I couldn't stay away-the second time, he sent me here. Half-Blood Hill. Summer camp for brats like you. 'Be a better influence, ' he told me. 'Work with youths rather than tearing them down. ' Ha. ' Absolutely unfair. "**

**Mr. D sounded about six years old, like a pouting little kid.**

**"And ... " I stammered, "your father is ... "**

**"Di immortales, Chiron, " Mr. D said. "I thought you taught this boy the basics. My father is Zeus, of course. "**

**I ran through D names from Greek mythology. Wine. The skin of a tiger. The satyrs that all seemed to work here. The way Grover cringed, as if Mr. D were his master.**

**"You're Dionysus, " I said. "The god of wine. "**

**Mr. D rolled his eyes. "What do they say, these days, Grover? Do the children say, 'Well, duh!'?"**

**"Y-yes, Mr. D. "**

**"Then, well, duh! Percy Jackson. Did you think I was Aphrodite, perhaps?"**

**"You're a god. "**

**"Yes, child. "**

**"A god. You. "**

"Sums up my thoughts perfectly," Scott growled. Isaac was frowning at the book.

"He's going to be a jerk to Percy now, isn't he?"

**He turned to look at me straight on, and I saw a kind of purplish fire in his eyes, a hint that this whiny, plump little man was only showing me the tiniest bit of his true nature. I saw visions of grape vines choking unbelievers to death, drunken warriors insane with battle lust, sailors screaming as their hands turned to flippers, their faces elongating into dolphin snouts. I knew that if I pushed him, Mr. D would show me worse things. He would plant a disease in my brain that would leave me wearing a strait-jacket in a rubber room for the rest of my life.**

**"Would you like to test me, child?" he said quietly.**

**"No. No, sir. "**

"You should have said yes!" Stiles sounded extremely frustrated.

**The fire died a little. He turned back to his card game. "I believe I win. "**

**"Not quite, Mr. D, " Chiron said. He set down a straight, tallied the points, and said, "The game goes to me. "**

**I thought Mr. D was going to vaporize Chiron right out of his wheelchair, but he just sighed through his nose, as if he were used to being beaten by the Latin teacher. He got up, and Grover rose, too.**

**"I'm tired, " Mr. D said. "I believe I'll take a nap before the sing-along tonight. But first, Grover, we need to talk, again, about your less-than-perfect performance on this assignment. "**

"Grover didn't do anything wrong!" Allison cried out. "That's so unfair!"

**Grover's face beaded with sweat. "Y-yes, sir. "**

**Mr. D turned to me. "Cabin eleven, Percy Jackson. And mind your manners. "**

**He swept into the farmhouse, Grover following miser-ably.**

**"Will Grover be okay?" I asked Chiron.**

"No! Percy, go save Grover from the abusive asshat!" Lydia demanded.

"It's a book, calm down," Jackson told her. Lydia turned a fierce glare on him, which, unfortunately went unnoticed.

**Chiron nodded, though he looked a bit troubled. "Old Dionysus isn't really mad. He just hates his job. He's been ... Ah, grounded, I guess you would say, and he can't stand waiting another century before he's allowed to go back to Olympus. "**

**"Mount Olympus, " I said. "You're telling me there really is a palace there?"**

**"Well now, there's Mount Olympus in Greece. And then there's the home of the gods, the convergence point of their powers, which did indeed used to be on Mount Olympus. It's still called Mount Olympus, out of respect to the old ways, but the palace moves, Percy, just as the gods do. "**

**"You mean the Greek gods are here? Like ... In America?"**

**"Well, certainly. The gods move with the heart of the West. "**

**"The what?"**

**"Come now, Percy. What you call 'Western civilization. ' Do you think it's just an abstract concept? No, it's a living force. A collective consciousness that has burned bright for thousands of years. The gods are part of it. You might even say they are the source of it, or at least, they are tied so tightly to it that they couldn't possibly fade, not unless all of Western civilization were obliterated. The fire started in Greece. Then, as you well know-or as I hope you know, since you passed my course-the heart of the fire moved to Rome, and so did the gods. Oh, different names, perhaps-Jupiter for Zeus, Venus for Aphrodite, and so on-but the same forces, the same gods. "**

**"And then they died. "**

**"Died? No. Did the West die? The gods simply moved, to Germany, to France, to Spain, for a while. Wherever the flame was brightest, the gods were there. They spent several centuries in England. All you need to do is look at the architecture. People do not forget the gods. Every place they've ruled, for the last three thousand years, you can see them in paintings, in statues, on the most important buildings. And yes, Percy, of course they are now in your United States. Look at your symbol, the eagle of Zeus. Look at the statue of Prometheus in Rockefeller Center, the Greek facades of your government buildings in Washington. I defy you to find any American city where the Olympians are not prominently displayed in multiple places. Like it or not-and believe me, plenty of people weren't very fond of Rome, either- America is now the heart of the flame. It is the great power of the West. And so Olympus is here. And we are here. "**

**It was all too much, especially the fact that I seemed to be included in Chiron's we, as if I were part of some club.**

"I want into this club. They give me free cookies," Stiles said, setting aside his now empty thermos.

**"Who are you, Chiron? Who ... Who am I?"**

**Chiron smiled. He shifted his weight as if he were going to get up out of his wheelchair, but I knew that was impossible. He was paralyzed from the waist down.**

**"Who are you?" he mused. "Well, that's the question we all want answered, isn't it? But for now, we should get you a bunk in cabin eleven. There will be new friends to meet. And plenty of time for lessons tomorrow. Besides, there will be s'mores at the campfire tonight, and I simply adore chocolate. "**

"A teacher who will admit to eating unhealthy foods. I like this guy," Danny nodded.

**And then he did rise from his wheelchair. But there was something odd about the way he did it. His blanket fell away from his legs, but the legs didn't move. His waist kept getting longer, rising above his belt. At first, I thought he was wearing very long, white velvet underwear, but as he kept rising out of the chair, taller than any man, I realized that the velvet underwear wasn't underwear; it was the front of an animal, muscle and sinew under coarse white fur. And the wheelchair wasn't a chair. It was some kind of container, an enormous box on wheels, and it must've been magic, because there's no way it could've held all of him. A leg came out, long and knobby-kneed, with a huge polished hoof. Then another front leg, then hindquarters, and then the box was empty, nothing but a metal shell with a couple of fake human legs attached.**

**I stared at the horse who had just sprung from the wheelchair: a huge white stallion. But where its neck should be was the upper body of my Latin teacher, smoothly grafted to the horse's trunk.**

"He's half horse. Of course he's half horse," Scott shook his head.

**"What a relief, " the centaur said. "I'd been cooped up in there so long, my fetlocks had fallen asleep. Now, come, Percy Jackson. Let's meet the other campers. "**

"We should probably think about slowing down soon," Lydia pointed out.

"Two more chapters?" Stiles asked.

"Two more, then you guys should head home," Derek agreed.

* * *

_A/N: I'm so, so sorry guys, but my life's gone to hell lately. The day I tried to start this chapter my best friend tried to commit suicide, and ended up in the hospital on watch, so I had a nice, three- week long emotional breakdown during which I couldn't see her and was subjected to several hours with my school guidance counselor, and I have three math exams coming up and an English exam and two final art projects, and everything's just gone crazy, plus all the data off of two sixteen gigabyte memory sticks just decided to up and delete themselves, and I have a friend who's in trouble with the police. So, yeah. Sorry! Please review for me! I'm usually pretty busy in the summer, but I'll update as often as I can!_

_I don't think I have to point out that Hermes didn't give Stiles _actual_ ambrosia, do I?_


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